Dawn of a New Year
by Coin of Light and Darkness
Summary: Co-authored with Craig W M. AU Second Year. With a princess, Taniya, a new rival, a new kid with family problems at DA, evil Jaden and a Colour draining villian on the loose, it looks to be an interesting year. Bastion/OC
1. Entrance Exams

**Craig W M and I don't own anything except for our OCs and personal cards. This is Craig W M's story which we are Co-authoring and now I'm putting it up on his request. Enjoy**

**Dawn of a New Year**

**Chapter 1: Entrance Exams**

The front door was slammed, and even against the shout of complaints coming from his family inside, Craig Thresher just kept running, with his Duel Disk slightly poking out of his bag, and his Deck zipped up in the side pocket. Craig had fifteen… no, fourteen minutes to make it to the Kaiba Corporation tower, where the entry exams for Duel Academy were taking place, and Craig was desperate to get in to the dueling school.

"If only I hadn't spent fifteen minutes looking for that stupid Spell Card…" muttered Craig to himself.

Craig was 15, and was attempting to become a freshman at Duel Academy, and had dirty-blonde hair, which was scruffy, blue eyes, medium size and medium build, and he wore a black polo shirt and blue jeans. Only ten minutes left on the clock.

Xxxxx

"Please note, there is only nine minutes to get a practical examination beginning with one of our Proctors, who are situated around the building," reminded the announcer at the Kaiba Corporation tower.

"And this time last year, it was ten minutes until Jaden challenged Crowler to a practical duel, and won," added Syrus Truesdale, a second-year Slifer watching the duels, standing next to Alexis Rhodes, a second-year Obelisk, and the two had had numerous adventures the year before concerning the fate of the world. They were hoping for an entirely different second year.

xxxxx

"Faster, legs, faster!" screamed Craig, running out of energy but desperate to reach the building, and with only six minutes left, and the building around eight-hundred meters away, his chances were looking good.

Xxxxx

"How many Proctors are there left that can duel, Crowler?" asked Sheppard.

"Only the one, Chancellor," replied Crowler, before muttering to himself, "And whichever late slacker it is, I will personally do everything in my power to get them into Slifer…"

xxxxx

Craig ran into the building with two minutes to go until five o'clock, the closing time for all applicants, and decided stairs would only delay him, and slammed his fist onto the 'up' button on the lift, and watched the numbers count down until they reached 'G', for Ground, and walked into the lift, and pressed the button for Floor 7, the floor for the applications, and cruelly shutting the electronic door on about five people, working on other floors of the building.

Xxxxx

"Where'd Jaden get to anyway?" asked Alexis, staring around.

"Oh, he said something about because we have to wait another hour before the boat arrives to take us to Duel Academy, he was going to get some refreshments," replied Syrus.

"Hey guys!" said Jaden, carrying stacks of food in each hand, weighing him down.

However, Jaden was immediately rammed down by a running Craig, who only had his eyes set on the nearest Proctor, who just happened to be about to be about a hundred meters away. Craig turned his eyes towards the giant digital clock attacked to the ceiling; it was fifty-nine minutes past three, and Craig ran over to the Proctor.

Xxxxx

"And a quick reminder; to keep you all entertained whilst waiting for the boat, we have delayed a few practical duels for you to watch, including a high scorer in the written exam; Hayley Dupree," said the announcer.

"Oh, now they tell me," moaned Craig, standing on a Duel Field opposite a Duel Proctor, who had slotted an Exam Deck into the Duel Disk he was carrying; as Craig removed his Duel Disk from his bag, and his Deck out the side pocket, and activated his Duel Disk and entered his Deck.

"So, applicant, the Deck I'm using is a Dragon-based Deck, are you ready to Duel?" asked the Proctor.

"I was ready when I left my house fifteen minutes ago," replied Craig.

Craig: 4000  
Proctor: 4000

"I'll start," said Craig, "And straight away, I'll activate Graceful Charity; now, by discarding 2 cards, I can draw 3,"  
Craig picked up three cards from his Deck, and discarded two Level 5 cards, named Delta the Magnet Warrior and Eta the Magnet Warrior, one of which were blue, and the other were red.

"Is that all?" asked Proctor.

"Nope, next, I'll summon Zeta the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode, and if Zeta is summoned, and it's the only monster I have, I can give up 500 Life Points and bring out Omicron the Magnet Warrior as well!" (ZMW 1000/1000) (OMW 1000/1000)

Craig: 3500  
Proctor: 4000

Two monsters appeared on Craig's field, one of which was yellow, and the other of which was orange, and both were the same shape, below average size of a human and straight bits of machinery stuck out everywhere.

"Now, this is where it gets complicated, because Magnet Warriors, they don't need Polymerization to fuse, they can connect automatically; so Zeta and Omicron are going to fuse together, and form… Zetacron the Magnetic

Warrior!" explained Craig, as magnetic bolts shot out of each monster, as they reassembled themselves, to make a orange monster of the same size, with a laser from each warrior before it on its arms, "Zetacron, let's roll! And that's all for now." (ZMW 2000/2000)

"Excellent, I'll match your Zetacron, with my Cave Dragon," said the Proctor. (CD 2000/500) A stocky dragon with horns on the front appeared opposite Zetacron, and looked towards it with an angry look, breathing smoke from its nostrils.

"Unfortunately, my monster has the same Attack Points as yours, so I'll play a card face-down, and activate my own Graceful Charity! So… discard two, draw three," finished the Proctor, discarding Red Eyes Black Dragon and Negate Attack. (REBD 2400/2000)

"And it's back to me!" said Craig eagerly, drawing out his card, "I'll play a face-down card to end my turn,"

People have began gathering around the duel field, having already dueled and been placed into their dorms, some looking happier than others.

"I activate the face-down I played earlier, Burst Breath! By sacrificing Cave Dragon, I can destroy all monsters with less or equal Defense Points then his Attack Points, and that's 2000!" explained Proctor, as Zetacron was destroyed by a burst of fire from Cave Dragon, who then disappeared as well, "And then, I'll Summon Decoy Dragon in Attack Mode!" (DD 300/200)

A small egg appeared on Proctor's side of the field, before it cracked open into a light-blue dragon with bucked teeth.  
"Decoy Dragon?" wondered Craig.

"And he's going to attack your Life Points directly!" attacked the Proctor.

Craig: 3200  
Proctor: 4000

Decoy Dragon flown over to Craig, and exhausted enough from the flying, was just about able to breathe a small flame at Craig, who just looked at the dragon.

"I'll end my turn there," said Proctor.

"And it starts mine!" began Craig, "And I'll Summon out, Gamma the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode!" (GMW 1500/1800)

The light red, slightly round monster jumped onto the field eagerly, and waved at Craig, as Craig waved back slowly, looking at Gamma as if he was some sort of psychopath.

"Anyway… Gamma, attack his Decoy Dragon!" said Craig, as Gamma pulled out a dagger from his pocket, and ran at the Decoy Dragon.

"You forgot about Decoy Dragon's ability, when he's attacked, I can bring out a Level 7 Dragon Monster from my Graveyard, and you have to attack that monster, so meet Red Eyes Black Dragon!" said Proctor, as the colossal black dragon appeared on the field, and stared down at Gamma. (REBD 2400/2000)

"But… I never destroyed Red Eyes," replied Craig.

"Correct, however I discarded it when I activated Graceful Charity. And now, Red Eyes, attack that Gamma with Inferno Fire Blast!" attacked Proctor.

Red Eyes Black Dragon powered up its fire blast, before flying into the air and blasting it towards Gamma menacingly, who was destroyed at the first touch of the ball.

Craig: 2300  
Proctor: 4000

"If that's all, I'll activate my face-down, Magnetic Repair! Now, for every Magnet Warrior that's currently lurking in my graveyard, I gain back 500 Life Points, and I count four!" said Craig, looking.

"Alright… I end my turn with a face-down," said Craig.

The Proctor looked all but ready to obliterate Craig to the ground with his Red-Eyes again, but looked slightly worried at Craig's face-down card, before drawing his own.

"Excellent, I'll use that later, but for now… Red-Eyes, attack Craig directly! Inferno Fire Blast!" repeated Proctor, as Red-Eyes blasted Craig to the ground again, "And then Decoy Dragon will do the same!"

Craig: 1600  
Proctor: 4000

"I'll end my turn there," finished Proctor, looking happy at his play so far.

Craig remained on the ground for quite some time, before his silence eventually turned into laughter, and he stood up slowly.

"I don't remember having so much fun dueling before; you're making me play to my best, and my best, will be enough!" complimented Craig, drawing his card eagerly, "Excellent, I activate Tribute to the Doomed, by discarding one card, I can destroy one card you have out, so bye-bye Red Eyes!"

Craig put Magnetic Factory into his Graveyard, and a group of bandages wrapped around Red-Eyes and pulled him into the ground, as the dragon did it's best to resist, "Now, meet Alpha the Magnet Warrior, in Attack Mode, and he's going to attack Decoy Dragon, as he's already activated his effect, he can't do it again!" explained Craig, and Alpha took down Decoy Dragon. (AMW 1400/1700)

Craig: 1600  
Proctor: 2900

"And there goes the Dragon population," joked Craig, triumphant at his victory over Red-Eyes.

Proctor drew, nerve-wracked at his empty field, and looked over at his card, and looked smug again.

"So you've taken down my Red-Eyes, but the Dragons will evolve; so meet my best monster, and by discarding White-Horned Dragon, Exploder Dragon and Luster Dragon, I can Summon Montage Dragon!" Said Proctor, as the three-headed blue dragon trampled onto the field, (MD-? /?)"And his Attack Points are determined on the Levels on the three discarded Dragons x 300, so with 13 Levels altogether, Montage Dragon gains 3900 Attack Points!" (MD 3900/3900)

Montage Dragon let out a giant roar of flame and smoke, and the spectators quickly took cover, and Craig looked fearful of the enormous dragon.

"This duel is over; Montage Dragon, attack his Alpha the Magnet Warrior!" battled Proctor, as Montage Dragon powered up a three-fold attack, and fired towards Alpha.

"Wrong! Activate face-down, a personal favourite, Magical Hats! It surrounds my field with 4 hats, with my Magnet Warrior concealed in one, and you have to guess where it is," Craig retaliated.

Montage Dragon, under order of Proctor, fired his blast at the far left hat, although it was an empty hat.  
"I'll end my turn there then, I guess, but a face-down as well," finished Proctor.

"Here we go… Looks like I can't do much, so I'll play two face-downs; each underneath a separate hat," said Craig, "I hope you're lucky,"

Once again, the hats shuffled round, each one concealing a different card.

"Take a pick, you've got a one in three chance; but before you choose, think, what else have I hidden under these hats?" questioned Craig, arms folded whilst watching Proctor draw his card and look at the hats as if he was attempting to find out what was underneath.

"So, these are the conditions, I hit your Magnet Warrior, it's all over, and I win, but if I hit your face-downs…" began Proctor.

The Proctor continued to stare at the hats closely, attempting to figure out the riddle, before looking happy at his decision.

"Now, Montage Dragon! Attack the middle hat!" attacked Proctor.

Montage Dragon prepared an attack in each of its head, before they all came together, and blasted towards the middle hat, and the colossal explosion that followed surrounded the floor in a grey haze, making the field unclear, and as the fog slowly faded.

Xxxxx

"Hey Sy? Can you see anything?" asked Jaden, standing by the walls on the edges of the building.

"Hold on Jaden, let me just activate my X-Ray Vision," joked Syrus, sarcastically.

"OK, I can wait," replied Jaden, not yet able to understand sarcasm.

Xxxxx

Eventually, the haze cleared, and only two hats remained.

"What happened? Did I win?" wondered the Proctor, staring around the field, before eventually turning to the Life Point Counter on his Duel Disk, "How'd you get 5500 Life Points?"

"My face-down card that you attacked, Draining Shield, this absorbs your attack and converts in into Life Points for me, and now I'll also activate my other face-down, Shadow Spell!" explained Craig, as chains shot out of the ground, and trapped Montage Dragon in its grasp, "This disables your Dragon from attacking, and reduces its Attack by 700." (MD 3900/3900 – 3200/3900)

"Fine, I'll just end my turn, good luck defeating my Montage Dragon, even if it has 700 less Attack Points," reminded the Proctor.

"I was just wishing the same thing," replied Craig, before thinking to himself, "Thing is, what are the chances I can draw the right card? Just about nothing, but nonetheless, here we go,"

Craig drew his card, and stared at it, and a huge grin grew on his face, and then speaking out cheerily, "Well, I take it back now, I'm glad I'm spent fifteen minutes looking for this Spell Card,"

Xxxxx

"Craig! You've got twenty minutes before it is five o'clock; you might want to hurry up!" yelled Craig's dad up the stairs.

Craig was frantically looking for a card that he considered handy in a tight spot, and reached under his bed, and feeling the card, and quickly pulling it out, he realized it was the card he was looking for.

"Finding you had better help me somehow," spoke Craig quietly, piling it onto the side pocket of his bag.

Xxxxx

"I activate the Spell Card, Magnet Conjunction!" activated Craig.

"That's the move that made you grin so much?" said the Proctor, not looking impressed.

"Well, you see, Magnet Conjunction allows me to resurrect any amount of 'Magnet Warriors', as long as I pay 1000 Life Points for each one. So, welcome back to Zeta, Omicron, Delta and Eta, the latter two I discarded through Graceful Charity," explained Craig, as each Magnet Warrior appeared one after the other onto the playing field.

"Hooray, you brought your pawns back," said the Proctor, sarcastically.

"Their not pawns, their Magnet Warriors!" yelled Jaden from the stands, still not understanding sarcasm.

"Remember the Fusion I did earlier? Well, Zeta and Omicron are going to do it again, forming Zetacron the Magnet Warrior; and followed by Delta and Eta forming Depsilon the Magnet Warrior!" fused Craig, as the four small Magnet Warriors transformed into two bigger ones. (ZMW 2000/2000) (DMW 2600/2300)

"Still useless," said the Proctor, not aware of what was to happen.

"One last thing, Zetacron and Depsilon, fuse together, and form the King of all Magnets… Omega the Ultimate Magnet Warrior!" added Craig, as the new navy blue Magnet Warrior, which was about two times the size of a human, flew down from where it began, with the robotic wings it had, and landed on the ground, (OUMW-4100/3700) "And then I'll add Rirkoyu, a card that takes half of Montage Dragon's Attack Points, and gives them to Omega, so I hoped you enjoyed this duel whilst it lasted," (MD-3200/3900 – 1600/3900)(OUMW 4100/3700 – 5700/3700)

Omega grew more and more until it was about the size of three humans, and took its gigantic sword out of its holder, and hung it over his back, waiting for the command.

"Omega! Let's roll!" attacked Craig, as Omega ran over to Montage Dragon and swung the sword, and took off all three heads at once.

Craig: 1600  
Proctor: 0

Craig looked next to him, and there was a ghostly figure next to him, about half the size of him, it was his Duel Spirit, Beta the Magnet Warrior, of which gave him the thumbs-up, and a wink, before vanishing again, as Craig shuddered.

xxxxx

"Congratulations to our newest addition to the Slifer dormitories, Craig Thresher, who just defeated his Proctor, of which I'm sure you all sure, what with it being the only duel on," said the announcer, "But don't think that's the last of the duels, remember, there is a few delayed duels that we have delayed for your entertainment, so don't go anywhere, because first up is Hayley Dupree!"

Xxxxx

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	2. The Lovely Duelist: Hayley Dupree

**Craig W M and I don't own anything except our OCs, Craig and Hayley and any made up cards. **

**Dawn of a New Year**

**Chapter 2: The Lovely Duelist: Hayley Dupree**

"I wonder who this Hayley Dupree is?" wondered Jaden.

"She's ranked in the top five freshmen this year, she's said to be a very good duelist," came a voice from behind them. Jaden, Syrus and Alexis turned to see Bastion Misawa walking towards them.

"Great, I could use some competition," cheered Jaden.

"Woah, who is that?" asked Chazz who had come up next to them and was staring down at the arena.

"WHO is that?"

"WHO IS that?"

"WHO IS THAT?"

The question was asked all over the testing zone and stands, for out in the arena was a girl, but she wasn't just any girl. She had beautiful blue eyes, lily-white skin and ebony-black hair that fell just past her bum. It had a natural wave in it and had three pink streaks running through it and a single, curly bang in between her eyes. She was wearing a light-pink top with dark pink trimming around the edges and the collar and her pants were the same light pink with the same dark-pink trimming on the cuffs. She also had dark-pink, fingerless gloves and light-pink sneakers. In her hair was a star shaped, pink and purple flower and on her left cheek was what looked like a tattoo of a wisteria.

All in all every boy was staring at her but there was only one boy that she was looking for, _'Where is he?'_ she wondered and then spotted him, Bastion Misawa. She deliberately waved at him and Bastion who'd been like all the other boys, staring at her, jerked back and then blushed, Chazz nudged him and he gave a feeble and awkward wave back, the girl grinned.

"Miss Dupree, are you ready for your duel?" asked the Procter.

"Yes sir," said Hayley, turning to face him and activating a pink duel disk with red trim and a purple star with light pink points and a smaller, pink star inside it on the top of her disk.

"Duel!"

"Let's feel the magic!" said Hayley and she drew her card.

H: 4000

P: 4000

"I summon a pure one, Sunlight Unicorn in attack mode!" said Hayley and a beautiful white unicorn with a flaming blue mane and tail and a blue horn appeared on the field. (SU 1800/1000)

xxxxx

"Unicorns?" I haven't heard of anyone playing a deck like that before," said Jaden.

"Hmm," said Bastion, watching her closely.

"Something wrong Bastion?" asked Alexis.

"Not really, it's just that she reminds me of someone," he replied and everyone looked on with interest, who did Hayley remind Bastion of?

Xxxxx

"She has an effect, once per turn I can look at the top card of my deck and if it's an Equip card I can add it to my hand but if it's not then it goes to the bottom of my deck," she explained and drew. She grinned when she saw her card.

"It looks like I'm in luck, I got an Equip Card and I'm now going to play it, I play Horn of the Unicorn and I equip it to my Sunlight Unicorn and she now gains seven hundred attack and defense points," (SU 1800/1000- 2500/1700)

"I now play one card face down and end my turn," said Hayley.

"I summon Tiger Axe in Defense Mode and end my turn," said the Procter. (TA 1300/1100)

"I draw and I summon Wattlemur in Attack Mode," said Hayley and a cute Lemur appeared with electricity around it. (Wl 800/100)

"I'll activate Sunlight's ability and draw a card and if it's an Equip card I can add it to my hand," Hayley said and she drew, "Yup it's an Equip Card and now I add it to my hand. Now I'll play Double Summon, I can now summon again this turn and I'll summon Wattbeta in Attack Mode," she said and smiled to see the goldfish on the field. (Wb 100/0)

Xxxxx

"Why does she want to summon such weak monsters?" asked Jaden.

"Hey, no one asks you that when you summon Winged Kuriboh," said Bastion, feeling defensive of Hayley for some reason.

"Chill Bastion," said Jaden holding his hands up defensively.

"He's right though, you shouldn't say something like that if you yourself do it," said a voice and everyone looked to see the boy who had just dueled walking up to them. "As for why she's summoning weak monsters, it's because the new monsters she has, the Watts, have strong Special Effects that make up for their attack and defense," he explained.

"You're Craig Thresher, the one who just dueled right?" asked Bastion and got a nod in conformation.

"That's me," he said.

"Hey guys, let's watch the rest of the duel," said Syrus and everyone turned back to the duel.

Xxxxx

"Ok, now I'll play this card, Wattcure and when a Thunder Type monster I control inflicts Battle Damage to my opponent's Life Points I gain Life Points equal to the damage inflicted. Now, Wattlemur, attack Tiger Axe!" commanded Hayley and everyone gasped.

Xxxxx

"If she does that then her monster will be destroyed! Why?" asked Syrus.

"It must have an effect that can only be activated if it's destroyed," said Bastion remembering what Craig had said about the Watt monsters having powerful effects.

Xxxxx

Tiger Axe destroyed Wattlemur and Hayley lost Life Points.

H: 3500

P: 4000

"Now that you've destroyed my monster his effect activates and you can't perform your Battle Phase in your next turn," said Hayley with a grin. "Now Sunlight Unicorn, destroy Tiger Axe!"

Sunlight Unicorn's horn pierced through Tiger Axe's armor and he burst into pixels.

H: 3500

P: 2800

"Now, Wattbeta, attack his life points directly."

Xxxxx

"What's the point? I'll only do one hundred points of damage," said Jaden and Bastion glared at him.

"It has an effect she wants to use I guess," he said crossly.

Xxxxx

H: 3500

P: 2700

"Now, here's her effect, when Beta inflicts Battle Damage by attacking your Life Points directly you select one card in your hand and discard it and since Beta is a Thunder Type monster and she inflicted damage, I gain one hundred life points thanks to Wattcure," said Hayley, grinning as she gained Life Points.

H: 3600

P: 2700

"I end my turn with a face down," she said.

Xxxxx

"You see Jaden, she had it all planned out," said Bastion smugly, he didn't know why he was acting like this over a girl he didn't even know but he didn't really care.

"She's as good as they say," muttered Craig.

"Hey Bastion, any idea of who she reminds you of?" asked Alexis.

"Well, I can tell that she likes battle and she certainly does the unexpected in order to gain the advantage over her opponent but I still can't put my finger on it," he replied.

"Hmm," said Alexis.

Xxxxx

"I draw and I summon Copycat in attack mode!" A man with a mirror appeared on the field, (C 0/0) "Now his ability activates, when he's summoned I can select one of my opponents monsters and Copycats attack and defense become equal to that monsters attack and defense and I choose your Sunlight Unicorn. (C 0/0 - 2500/1700)

"Now Copycat, attack! Destroy Wattbeta," ordered the Proctor but Hayley smirked as the attack didn't go through.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked the Proctor.

"You forgot that you can't conduct your Battle Phase this turn due my Wattlemur's effect, remember?" asked Hayley and the Proctor wanted to sink through the floor in embarrassment and he ended his turn by playing two facedowns.

"I play the trap, Torrential Tribute from my hand, which destroys all monsters on the field," said Hayley and Sunlight Unicorn, Wattbeta and Copycat were destroyed.

"Here goes my next move," said Hayley but before she could do anything else the Proctor activated one of his facedowns, Monster Reborn and brought back Tiger Axe in Attack Mode. (TA 1300/1100)

"Well now, that fits in nicely with a monster I have," said Hayley.

"What?" asked the Proctor.

"I now summon a pure one, Phantomhorned Beast Phypocorn in Attack Mode!" (PBP 1400/600) "When you control a monster and I control no monsters I can destroy one set Spell or Trap and I choose your face down," said Hayley and the Proctors Trap, Negate Attack, was destroyed.

"Next I'll play another Double Summon, which allows me to summon one more time this turn and I summon Key Mouse in defense mode!" (KM 100/100)

"Now for my next trick, I'm going to Tune my monsters together," said Hayley.

"Tune? Wait, you mean the new way of summoning monsters?" asked the Proctor in disbelief.

"That's right, so Key Mouse is a Level one Tuner Monster and my Phantomhorned Beast Phypocorn is Level four so I'll tune them together to Synchro Summon a pure one, Thunder Unicorn!" A blue unicorn with yellow lightning marks, an orange mane and tail and a long yellow lightning bolt horn appeared on the field, (TU- 2200/1800)

Xxxxx

"Synchro Summon!" cried Craig.

"What's that?" asked Jaden.

"I've never heard of it," said Alexis.

"I have, it's a new form of summoning a stronger monster, you tune a new type of monster, a Tuner monster which are levels one to four, though there aren't many level four Tuners, with another monster and their levels have to add up to the level of the monster you're summoning. In this case Hayley is summoning a level five monster. It's called Synchronizing or Synchro Summoning. Pegasus just created them, which is why they're not very well known yet," explained Bastion to the group.

"Wow, that's cool," said Chazz.

"Hey Bastion, do you have any idea who she reminds you of yet?" asked Syrus.

"Well let's see, Hayley takes the risk; she has a thrill for battle, an unexpected twist every turn, and is always one step ahead of her opponent," said Bastion, trying to put it together and then he snapped his fingers, "Ah, now I remember who Hayley reminds me of! She reminds me of Taniya!"

"Taniya!" said everyone who knew her.

"Who's Taniya?" asked Craig.

"She's the Amazon I dueled last year."

"You know what? Bastion's right. Hayley does duel like Taniya," said Chazz, looking down at the girl.

Xxxxx

"Now, I'll activate his effect, once per turn I can select one of my opponents face up monsters and reduce its attack points by five hundred for each monster I control so there goes five hundred of Tiger Axe's Attack Points." (TA 1300/1100 – 800/1100) "Thunder Unicorn, destroy Tiger Axe, Thunder Horn!" ordered Hayley and a bolt of thunder came out of Thunder Unicorns horn and charred Tiger axe to pixels.

H: 3600

P: 1300

"Now I end my turn with a face down," said Hayley.

"It's my move, I play another Monster Reborn to bring back Tiger Axe in Attack Mode and then I'll use Premature Burial, I pay 800 Life Points and then I can select one Monster Card from my Grave and Special Summon it to the field in Attack Mode. Come on back Copycat!" (TA -1300/1100) (C - 0/0)

H: 3600

P: 500

"Now I'll sacrifice these two monsters to summon Red Eyes Black Dragon in Attack Mode!" (2400/2000)

"I now equip my Red Eyes with Metalmorph and then I'll tribute it to summon Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon!" said the Proctor and a metal version of Red Eyes appeared on the field and let out a roar. (REBMD – 2800/2400)

"Ok, Red Eyes go and destroy her Unicorn!" ordered the Proctor.

"Sorry but I play my facedown, a Trap called Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, I can only activate it when my opponents monster attacks then I can negate the attack and instead of this card going to the grave I can set it face down again," said Hayley.

"I play Goblin's Secret Remedy, I increase my Life Points by six hundred and I end my turn with a face down," grumbled the Proctor.

H: 3600

P: 1100

"I draw and I activate my Unicorns effect and now your Red Eyes' attack points are reduced by five hundred." (REBMD – 2800/2400-2300/2400)

"Now I'll equip Horn of the Unicorn onto Thunder Unicorn and his attack and defense will now rise by seven hundred and if you're wondering why Horn of the Unicorn is here instead of in my graveyard it's because it gets sent back to the top of my deck instead," she explained, (TU – 2200/1800-2900/2500)

"Not so fast, I activate my facedown card, Mystical Space Typhoon, now I can destroy one Spell or trap on the field and I choose your Horn of the Unicorn," said the Proctor.

Hayley gasped as Thunder Unicorns power bonus went to the grave. (TU - 2900/2500- 2200/1800)

"Looks like I have to go to Plan B, I activate Magic Mine! I played this at the beginning of the duel, it can only be activated when my opponent destroys a Spell card with a monster, trap or spell effect, now we both take two thousand points of damage," Hayley explained and both she and the Proctor took damage, though Hayley won.

H: 1600

P: 0

"The magic has ended!" declared Hayley, waving at the cheering crowd, especially to Bastion who was cheering very loudly.

"Good job Miss Dupree, you've passed, congratulations, but are you sure of where you want to go?" asked the Proctor.

"Yes," she said firmly.

"Very well, Miss Dupree you have made Ra Yellow, I hope you enjoy your year at Duel Academy," said the Proctor and Hayley nodded.

"Why in the world would she want to be in Ra?" asked Chazz. No one could give him an answer.

Xxxxx

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	3. Bullies Never Prosper

**Craig W M and I don't own anything except our OCs, Craig and Hayley and any made up cards. **

**Dawn of a New Year**

**Chapter 3: Bullies Never Prosper**

Craig leant on the railings of the boat that was taking him to Duel Academy, wearing the red jacket he had been given on his way onto the boat, and was constantly reminding himself of the moment he got into Duel Academy, attempting to stick it into his head. Alexis, Chazz, Syrus and Jaden were with him and Bastion was off somewhere else.

Xxxxx

_"Omega the Ultimate Magnet Warrior; let's roll!"_

Xxxxx

"Craig," said a voice from behind Craig.

Turning around, Craig realized it was Alexis.

"What's up Alexis?" asked Craig.

"I just realized that many people thought Hayley Dupree might be one of the best freshmen, and I saw your duel against and I think she might've found a rival in you," complimented Alexis.

"How'd you get in the blue?" asked Craig, recognizing the difference in colour clothing to him, since she had been wearing casual clothing when they'd met, she was now in her Obelisk uniform.

"The blue? Oh right, well I went to the Dueling Prep School and all girls go into Obelisk Blue anyway, except for Hayley Dupree, who for some reason asked to be in Ra Yellow," explained Alexis. Jaden and Syrus had gone to get something to eat, Chazz was now on the other side of the boat and no one knew where Bastion was.

On the other side of the boat, Craig heard a scream from someone, sounding like a girl, and gradually walked around to the back end of the boat to check what it was.

Xxxxx

"Ultimate Tyranno, stomp all her remaining monsters! Forward March!" yelled the bulky person in the green and yellow, sounding like an Army General, as his Tyrannosaurus behind up finished the match off, and knocked his opposition onto the ground.

"Who's the Army guy?" asked Craig.

"Tyranno Hasselberry, a first-year Ra student, he's already gained a reputation of walking around with his 'battalion' of troops and challenging people for their Duel Disks," replied Alexis.

"And who's she?" asked Craig to Alexis.

"Her? Oh, she's Flo Smith, another of the Slifer freshmen an-" began Alexis.

"What was her name again?" said Craig in surprise.

"Flo Smith. Why'd you ask?"

Craig stared at the girl on the ground, who had the same colour hair as Craig, but down to her shoulders, with blue eyes, and was wearing a red shirt to match the Slifer jacket, and was about the same height as Craig. Once the girl turned around to look at Craig, she instantly recognized him.

"Craig?" wondered Flo.

"Flo," replied Craig.

"Enough of the tearful reunions, I won our little match, and as you agreed, if I win, I get your Duel Disk. And I DID win, so I'll be leaving now," reminded Hasselberry, literally tearing the Duel Disk off of Flo's wrist, and turning to walk away.

Whilst Flo jumped up and hugged Craig, most people were still confused.

"Any explanation?" asked Alexis.

"Flo's, well, my girlfriend," replied Craig.

"You weren't going to get away from me that easily, I have beaten you before, so I knew it'd be a cinch to get in," said Flo cockily.

"Well… Let's get this Duel Disk business sorted out now then," said Craig, whilst the bulky Ra student continued walking away towards the door to the inside of the boat.

"Hey, 'General', how about you come over here and try your skills on me," challenged Craig.

"You? Don't make me laugh, I've destroyed enough of you Privates to last me a military career!" replied Hasselberry, laughing along to himself.

"Oh, that's OK, I'll just go and tell everyone that you were too scared to duel a Slifer,"

"Are you calling me a coward?" yelled Hasselberry angrily.

"That depends; are you going to duel me or not?" replied Craig.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile on another part of the ship Bastion was looking out over the railing at the waves and he didn't hear someone come up behind him until,

"Excuse me," said a voice and he turned to see Hayley Dupree in a Ra Yellow girls uniform, her hair being blown everywhere by the wind.

"Uh, hello," said Bastion with a slight blush on his face.

"Hey, um, I'm Hayley Dupree and I saw you watching me duel. I came to tell you why I waved to you specifically," she said.

"Oh, ok," said Bastion, he was curious as to why she'd done that.

"Well, I've heard a lot about you, how you came in Number one in the entry exams last year and that you were good enough to be chosen to be a Key Keeper and to be considered to be the school representative. I also heard that you're absolutely brilliant and my source of information wasn't lying when they said that you were the handsomest boy in Duel Academy, I really admire you Bastion," said Hayley and she now had a blush on her face.

Bastion blushed even harder, "I…I'm honored that you know so much about me and that you…um, admire me," he said. They stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say and then Hayley spoke rather hesitantly.

"Um, Bastion, do you think that you can show me around Duel Academy when we get there?"

"Of course, it would be my pleasure," he replied and they smiled at one another both feeling more comfortable now.

"So, who is your source? Anyone I know?" asked Bastion leaning against the railing, Hayley joining him.

"Sorry, you won't find that out until we get to the Academy and maybe you do know and maybe you don't, you'll find that out as well," said Hayley with grin and a wink.

Bastion blinked and then smiled, "Well then, the boat better hurry up because I need to know," and they both laughed, a friendship being formed.

Neither of them realized that they were being watched by a pair of blue eyes and their blonde hair flew in their face, _'Just wait Hayley, this year will be mine,'_ they thought.

Xxxxx

Back to where Craig and Hasselberry were,

"Let's duel!" yelled both opponents.

Hasselberry: 4000  
Craig: 4000

"I'll be taking the first move, Private," began Hasselberry, "I'll Summon Black Stego(1200/2000) in Defense Mode; and play a card face-down to end my turn,"

"And it's over to me already, and I'll activate Card Destruction! This forces both of us to discard our hands and start with a brand new one," explained Craig, tossing all his cards and picking up five more, "Now, this is where it gets confusing, I Summon Zeta the Magnet Warrior(1000/1000) in Defense Mode; and because he's the only monster on my field, I can Summon Omicron the Magnet Warrior(1000/1000) for the measly price of five-hundred Life Points,"

Hasselberry: 4000  
Craig: 3500

"Are you done-" began Hasselberry.

"No, because I also activate Magnet Fusion, which lets me fuse Magnet Warriors in my Graveyard, so I'll fuse the Delta and the Eta I discarded by Card Destruction to form Depsilon, the Magnet Warrior(2400/2100), and then I'll also fuse Zeta and Omicron to form Zetacron, the Magnet Warrior(2000/2000)," added Craig, "Scared yet?"

"I'm never scared!" shouted Hasselberry.

"You should be; because now I fuse Zetacron and Depsilon together to form… Omega, the Ultimate Magnet Warrior (4100/3700)!"

The duel from before was played over and over in Craig's head and the navy blue warrior came down from the sky, and took its electrical sword out of his back.

"Omega, let's roll! Attack his Black Stego!" attacked Craig, and Omega flew over to the Stego, who looked ready to defend itself.

"Good luck with that! I activate Amber Pitfall, forcing your monster into Defense Mode, and he's no longer allowed to defend your Life Points!" activated Hasselberry, with a laugh that could've sounded hysterical, as Omega took a blast to the chest which forced him to defend himself.

Xxxxx

"Looks like our Sarge has got this match taken already," claimed one of Hasselberry's battalion.

"Look at his opponent's jacket; it's no doubt he had won this already," replied another.

Xxxxx

"Talk about respect…" muttered Craig.

"And it's back to me Private! Black Stego, you're dismissed, and Dark Driceratops (2400/1500), report for duty!" said Hasselberry, as the stegosaurus was replaced with a mix of a dinosaur and a bird, "Dark Driceratops, forward march!"

Craig was slightly swept down on the floor by the flying dinosaur, as it left a dent in his Life Points.

Hasselberry: 4000  
Craig: 1100

"I think this match is just about over!" yelled Hasselberry.

"And I think differently," said Craig, in pain after the recent attack, and drawing his card, "I'll Summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior(1500/1800), and one card face down, and that'll be all,"

Hasselberry's battalion was gradually getting louder and louder, feeling their Sergeant would win this duel in his next turn, as they irritated everyone more and more.

"Excellent…" murmured Hasselberry, "I activate Ultra Evolution! Now, by removing from play one Dinosaur and Machine type, such as Hyper Hammerhead and Dyna Base, I can Summon a LIGHT attribute Dino-type monster, so meet your end, because I remove both cards to Summon up Super Conductor Tyranno(3300/1400), and his effect allows me to sacrifice one of my monsters to inflict 1000 points of damage!"

Dark Driceratops flew up and into the cannon on Super Conductor Tyranno's left arm, and was swallowed up and turned into a blast that took Craig to the just-give-up-already level.

Hasselberry: 4000  
Craig: 100

"Your turn," finished Hasselberry, triumphantly.

Craig got up, and drew his card, and looked down at the card he had been given.

"I'll just have to place two cards face-down to end my turn," said a crestfallen Craig.

"This'll be the last turn, Private!" boasted Hasselberry, "I draw!"

Alexis had been watching the duel and now Jaden, Syrus and Chazz had appeared and were watching with her.

"So, er…" said Jaden, thinking of nothing else to say.

"They're both tough," commented Chazz and Syrus nodded in agreement.

Xxxxx

"Wow, this Dinosaur duelist has knocked that Craig up, down and sideways," commented Bastion. He and Hayley had taken a walk back to the inside of the boat and had seen the duel.

"It's 4000 Life Points to 100! Not even Jaden could come back from that!" said Syrus.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Sy!" replied Jaden, looking eager at the prospect of a duel. Hayley looked at him in distain; she had heard of him and didn't really like him, mainly because he had stripped Bastion of his rightful title as the Number one Duelist in the school by defeating him in the school duel. Add the fact that he won his duels by luck and he was lazy. She had done her homework on this guy.

'_I'll duel you one day Jaden,'_ she thought and turned her attention back to the duel.

Xxxxx

"I equip my Super Conductor Tyranno with Fairy Meteor Crush! Now when he attacks a monster in Defense Mode, you still take damage!" explained Hasselberry.

From the sky, a meteor flew down swiftly towards the Conductor Tyranno, hitting it right in, and when it cleared, the Tyranno was glowing red from the blast, and Craig cringed slightly.

"Super Conductor Tyranno, attack his Gamma the Magnet Warrior!" attacked Hasselberry, grinning hugely as Conductor Tyranno prepared a blast.

"You were correct when you said this was the last turn, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, which allows me to destroy a Spell or Trap Card!" explained Craig.

"But I don't have any-" began Hasselberry.

"Remember my first turn?" reminded Craig.

Xxxxx

_"Omega, let's roll! Attack his Black Stego!" attacked Craig, and Omega flew over to the Stego, who looked ready to defend itself._

"Good luck with that! I activate Amber Pitfall, forcing your monster into Defense Mode, and he's no longer allowed to defend your Life Points!" activated Hasselberry, with a laugh that could've sounded hysterical, as Omega took a blast to the chest which forced him to defend himself.

Xxxxx

Hasselberry's Amber Pitfall was destroyed, and Omega the Magnet Warrior was restored into its original position, Attack Mode.

"Fat load of good it'll do ya, Omega will drop and give me twenty at the end of this duel!" said Hasselberry angrily.

"Enough with the military references," muttered Syrus on the sidelines.

"When you said Last Turn, I had no idea you meant it literally," commented Craig.

"Wha?" wondered Hasselberry, unable to finish his word due to confusion.

"I activate my other face-down, Last Turn! This forces me to choose a monster, and you choose any card in your hand and Deck, and the winner of the fight is the winner of the Duel," explained Craig.

Xxxxx

Hasselberry's battalion turned to silence as they realized what this meant.

"C'mon guys, I might have a monster in my Deck!" commented Hasselberry, "I guess this is another battalion that has deserted me…"

"You need… to choose a monster," reminded Craig.

"I'm just saying, the only reason I took people's Duel Disks was a way I could force them to play their best, I just wanted to find people I could properly fit in with…" muttered Hasselberry.

"Whatcha mean?" asked Craig.

"I always built up a battalion wherever I went, just some temporary friends, as I knew they'd all leave me stuck somewhere one day, so I was just looking for someone who was a better duelist then me, so I could, well, learn from them, just someone that wouldn't leave me stuck in the mud when I needed them most…" replied Hasselberry.

"Hasselberry, this Duel Academy is a vast, vast island, there'll always be someone better then you, just keep looking, but now, let's finish this duel, Sergeant," said Craig, forcing Hasselberry to grin at the military reference.

"Fine then, I'll pick my Super Conductor Tyranno (3300/1400)!" yelled Hasselberry.

"It's been a great duel, I'll pick my Omega, the Ultimate Magnet Warrior (4100/3700)!" replied Craig, as Omega took the sword out of its back pocket again, and ran towards the Super Conductor Tyranno.

"Well, I'll be," said Hasselberry, "Thanks for the duel, Major."

Omega jumped up onto the back of Super Conductor Tyranno, and drove the sword into the back of the giant beast, as it was destroyed with power and Craig won due to effects of Last Turn.

Hasselberry: 4000  
Craig: 100

Xxxxx

As Hasselberry fell to the ground in defeat, many looked surprised at the overwhelming defeat of Tyranno Hasselberry.

"Need a hand, Sergeant?" offered Craig, offering his hand to Hasselberry, which he took and raised himself up upon.

"Thanks for the duel, Major; I'll look forward to our re-match," replied Hasselberry.

"As will I," added Craig, before Hasselberry turned and walked on, slowly followed by his battalion.

Xxxxx

"So, how'd you get into Duel Academy?" asked Craig, to Flo who was sitting opposite from on the inside of the boat.

"Well…" began Flo.

"Wow, that was one awesome duel! You made me want to get my game on!" commented Jaden, approaching Craig, towed by Alexis and Syrus.

"Thanks," replied Craig, "I'm sure we'll duel someday Jaden Yuki."

"Yeah; I'll see you then!"

"Will do," said Craig, as Jaden turned around and continued walking, before Alexis, Chazz and Syrus departed.

Xxxxx

"So, you were saying about your Duel Academy entry?" reminded Craig.

"Yeah, so-" began Flo again.

"Craig?" asked a voice from behind.

"Who wants to know?" questioned Craig back.

"Relax it's me Bastion; I just watched your duel with Tyranno Hasselberry, thought I'd comment about some of the skills you possess," said Bastion, and Hayley stood next to him.

"Nice Last Turn move you did back there," said Hayley, "I'm in the first-year with you, we might get to duel sometime,"

"I'll look forward to that day," replied Craig, as Hayley and Bastion turned around to leave.

Xxxxx

"So… Now then, you were saying?" reminded Craig again.

"So I began by-" tried Flo again.

"Please note; we are now entering Duel Academy, your luggage will be deported onto the island by our staff, please leave the boat straight away and board the island," announced the ship's captain.

Xxxxx

Craig and Flo had found the Slifer dorm easily enough, but however, thought they'd exited the wrong place, as did the rest of the new Slifers gathered around them.

"New Slifers?" asked a nearby person, it was a woman around twenty three years old, she had long brown hair in a ponytail, blue eyes, on the right side of her face was a scar, she had tan skin, was tall and had a lot of muscle and standing beside her was a tiger and a white baby lioness that had a pink collar with a diamond hanging in the front.

"Who's she?" came the mutter of most Slifers.

"I'm Taniya Dupree the Amazon, and due to your last Head of Dorm vanishing into a cat; I'm your new Head of Dorm," introduced Taniya.

"This is going to be one heck of an insane year," said Craig and then he realized what she said, "Wait, Dupree?"

Xxxxx

Please review


	4. Secrets Told, Rival Bird

**Craig W M and I don't own anything except our OCs, Craig and Hayley and any made up cards. **

**Dawn of a New Year**

**Chapter 4: Secrets Told, Rival Bird**

While Craig was busy shouting out 'Dupree', Bastion was giving Hayley a tour of the campus and they'd made it to the Ra dorms. Professor Satyr was waiting for Hayley to arrive. He greeted her warmly and showed her to her room, which was well away from the boys' rooms.

It was very nice and it was there that Bastion learned something about Hayley. She had could see and sense Duel Spirits and unlike anyone else who had a Duel Spirit if she ever got a Duel Spirit it would become real.

"How is it possible?" asked Bastion in amazement.

"I have a very strong connection with spirits in general, my people are one with nature and we often use Duel Monsters as totems and ask them for guidance. The more spirits you have the stronger your soul and spirit are and if even one of your spirits can become real then that means that you're very powerful in body, mind, heart, soul and spirit and you'll live a longer and healthier life and if it's a high leveled monster or if they have powerful effects so much the better."

"Wow, Hayley this is amazing. Who else has Duel Spirits?" asked Bastion with admiration colouring his voice.

"Chazz Princeton, he has the Ojama brothers, my sister, I think that Craig has the beginning of a spirit, it was very faint in his exam and Jaden Yuki has Winged Kuriboh and I can see that you have the ability to see and sense spirits too," she said.

"Me?" asked Bastion in surprise.

"Yes and I have the feeling that if you improve your spiritual belief and start believing in your deck instead of science and numbers you'll be just like me, able to see, sense and have them become real in this world. As for how you see them, let me guide you, I can help you unlock that ability," said Hayley and took his hand in hers. It was a perfect fit, his hand automatically wrapped around her slim delicate one; they looked at each other and blushed.

"Now what?" asked Bastion softly.

"Close your eyes and trust me," she replied just as softly. He did so and then she began to speak again, "Now just breathe in and out and look deep inside yourself, push away everything that says that it's not possible and just believe that it is, make your mind quiet and once you've done that and you feel calm, open your eyes and then, when you come across anyone who has a Duel Spirit you'll see them."

Bastion did as she said and found that not having numbers, scientific equations and lots of information running around in his head was wonderful, he'd never felt like this before. He opened his eyes and he grinned widely, feeling something new deep down inside of him.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," she replied. Hayley then began to unpack her things and Bastion helped while talking to his spirits for the first time. After they'd finished Hayley asked, "Hey Bastion could you show me where the Slifer Dorms are? There's someone there that I need to see."

"Sure thing," agreed Bastion and they left the Ra dorms together. "So who are you meeting there?" asked Bastion curiously.

"You'll see," said Hayley cryptically with a mischievous smile.

Bastion blinked but then smiled, it wasn't much further to the Slifer dorms and he could wait.

"Dupree!" said a voice that he recognized and they rounded the corner to see Craig with his mouth hanging open in shock and staring at a woman that Bastion definitely recognized.

"TANIYA!" he exclaimed and was shocked to see Hayley run past him and give the Amazon a big hug.

"Hi big sister," said Hayley happily and the white lion cub pounced on her shoes.

"Hey little sis, hi Bastion, how are you both?" asked Taniya with a grin as big as her sisters at the expression on Bastion's face.

"I'm fine and Bastion's be great to me, you were right Taniya, he's everything you said and more, I'm glad he's my friend," chattered Hayley to her sister and giving Bastion a smile.

He blinked and everything she had said to him began to make sense, her knowledge of Duel Spirits, her dueling style, her happy, friendly personality, her information on him, it all made sense. _'They do look alike,' _he thought and then smiled broadly.

"It's nice to see you again Taniya. It certainly was a surprise to learn that you're Hayley's sister but now I can see the resemblance even though she's different from you. Why is she…?" he didn't know how to finish the question and Taniya answered,

"Hayley was born as a runt and no one wanted to train her but I could see that my baby sister had spirit and so I trained her, she may not look it but she is strong but she'll never be like the other Amazons in the village. She's special in another way though, you'll find out when the time is right. Now Bastion, first thing you need to know is that I'm terribly sorry about what I did to you last year…" she was about to continue Bastion interrupted her,

"Don't be, you taught me many valuable lessons that I could never learn out of books and with normal experience. I thought I was invincible. I was also arrogant and felt superior to others because of me being so smart and that I was immune to emotions I thought I was above. You showed me how wrong I was and you taught me humility and how to be humble. I'm a much better person now then I was back then so thank you," said Bastion, smiling at the woman he once had a crush on, but it had been only that, a crush, he gotten over it and now saw her as a friend.

"You're welcome Bastion, I'm glad I was able to help you. Now the second reason I'm here is that since Professor Banner is gone, I'm now the new Slifer Headmistress, I owe Lyman that much," said Taniya.

"What do you mean?" asked Bastion.

"While I was working for Kagemaru he didn't allow me to contact Hayley but Layman gave me several chances throughout the time I was with him to speak to her and make sure she was ok and to tell her that I was ok. He was my friend and taking over for him, the job he loved, it's the very least I can do," explained Taniya. Craig listened to all of this with interest and found that the lion cub was called Empress and that she belonged to Hayley.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Little Princess," came a mocking voice and Craig, Flo, Syrus, Chazz, Taniya, Bastion and Hayley turned to see an Obelisk girl with skin darker than Hayley's but lighter than Taniya's, long blonde hair down to her waist and blue eyes that looked cold and cruel. With her was Jaden, who was oblivious to how much tension there was and was smiling happily and a Leopard cub. There was something mean about her and everyone could feel it, though Jaden seemed to be oblivious to it.

"Hey guys, this is my new friend Larke Tanner, she's a Freshman and a great duelist," he said cheerfully, Hayley wanted to be sick, Taniya looked at him in disbelief, Bastion was looking as though he didn't know him (and right now he didn't want to), Craig tapped his finger against his head three times, much like Obelix from the Asterix comics, saying without words that he thought that Jaden was crazy, Flo was puzzled and Chazz and Syrus just looked at Jaden in despair.

Empress was in Hayley's arms but the leopard cub, which looked as mean as its mistress started to run and growl and this startled Empress, who leapt out of Hayley's arms and began to run, the leopard chasing her.

"Empress, come back," called Hayley and began to run after her lion cub.

"Precious, come here!" said Larke and began to run after the leopard cub. Taniya slapped her hand against her face and dragged it down.

"Here we go again," and Bastion looked at her inquiringly.

Taniya sighed as the girls came neck and neck with each other, their eyes met and a spark of competition went between them and they began to run faster after their pets, neither giving nor gaining an inch. It was a lot like the part in the Pokemon Movie Mewtwo Strikes Back, where Pikachu and Raichu had the electric race.

"Larke Tanner has been Hayley's rival forever and no one knows why, Hayley never did or said anything to provoke her but Larke has done everything in her power to make Hayley's life harder and more miserable. She can't stand the fact that Hayley's always been better than her at everything; even Hayley's stronger than her. She's not as strong as her sisters because she wanted to focus on being beautiful instead and so she neglected her training," explained Taniya, looked at Larke in distaste.

"Wow, that's rough," commented Chazz.

"Hayley is so sweet and nice though, how could anyone dislike her or do mean things to her?" asked Bastion, puzzled; he really couldn't imagine anyone doing anything to hurt the friendly Amazon.

"I don't know, but you hit that nail on the head, one her very well earned nicknames is Sweetheart," said Taniya smiling.

"What did Larke mean by Little Princess?" asked Craig. He was curious about that; it seemed to have more meaning than just an insult.

"When I was here something wonderful happened to Hayley back home and that only made Larke hate her even more. I'm not going to tell you what happened though, that's for my sister to do and she'll tell you when the time is right," her tone made everyone realize that it was the end of that discussion.

Bastion, while listening to what Taniya was saying had been watching the girls chase their respective pets and saw an opportunity. He stepped forward, bent down and grabbed Empress letting Precious try to stop but she couldn't and went skidding into a tree.

"Oh, thank you Bastion," panted Hayley and taking her little one her arms.

"Yeah, for nothing," scowled Larke, picking up a dizzy Precious. Despite their rivalry Hayley was concerned for Precious,

"Is she ok?" she asked sweetly and Bastion marveled at how nice she was, _'It seems that to Hayley whatever happens in the field stays in the field. I don't think that Larke feels that way though.'_

"Ok Hayley, let's throw down, right here, right now," said Larke and Jaden passed her his duel dusk.

"Fine," said Hayley and got her own duel disk.

"Duel!"

"Let's feel the magic!"

H: 4000

L: 4000

"I'll go first and I summon Gemini Elf in attack mode and I play two cards facedown and end my turn," said Larke. (GE – 1900/900)

"Ok then, I play Graceful Charity, now I can draw three new cards and then I discard two, then I'll summon Dark Desertapir in attack mode and now Desertapir will attack your Gemini Elf," said Hayley calmly. (DD – 1100/300)

"Another risk move," commented Bastion and the others nodded.

"Sorry but I play my trap, Dimensional Prison, I can activate it only when my opponent declares an attack and then I can remove from play the attack monster," said Larke smirking.

"That's perfect, for now that he's removed from play, I can activate his effect, I can select one level four or lower Beast Type Monster in my grave and Special Summon it and I choose Key Mouse in Defense Mode. I'll play a facedown and end my turn," said Hayley. (KM – 100/100)

"How pathetic, I summon Honest in attack mode and now I'll have my Elf destroy your Mouse," said Larke and he was sent to the graveyard but Hayley smiled. (H – 1100/1900)

"Why are you smiling?" asked Larke.

"How quickly you forget what my deck is about Larke even though we've dueled countless times. Key Mouse has an effect, when he's destroyed by battle I can add one level three or lower Beast type monsters from my deck to my hand," and she did so. "Now I'm going to activate the effect of one of my monsters, when a Beast Type monster I control is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can pay one thousand life points to Special Summon this card from my hand or my deck, so come on out, Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest in attack mode," (GBDF 2600/1800)

"You remember my facedown don't you Larke? Well, this is it, the Trap card, Attack and Receive; I can activate it when I take damage to my Life Points and I can then inflict seven hundred points of damage to your Life Points. Not to mention that I can inflict three hundred points of damage to your Life Points per card if there are additional Attack and Receive cards in my grave and there is one more in it, I sent it there with the effect of Graceful Charity."

"Aw, that's cool," said Craig.

"Nice move," said Chazz, he could see that Hayley would be tough competition for him if they ever dueled.

"What a strategy," marveled Bastion and Taniya smiled at her sisters' move.

"Aw come on Larke, you can beat her," whined Jaden and Bastion wanted to beat him, into the ground…

H: 3000

L: 3000

"I end my turn," said Larke scowling at her rival, she couldn't attack her with Honest since her Baboon was stronger than him.

"Mine begins and I Special Summon Monoceros in attack mode and the only way to do that is to remove a spell card from my grave and I'll be taking my Graceful Charity out of the game," Hayley removed her card and Monoceros appeared on the field. (M - 1000/1000) "Next I'll play Double Summon, which allows me to summon once more this turn and I'll summon my Elephun in attack mode," she said cheerfully. (E – 500/300)

"Now I'll play the card I just drew, a spell I like to call Lightning Vortex, I discard one card and then I can destroy all of my opponent's face-up monsters so say goodbye to Honest and Gemini Elf," and they were destroyed by bolts of lightning.

"Now I'm going to win the duel, Baboon and Monoceros, attack Larke's Life Points directly!" ordered Hayley and Larke, having no cards to save her, took the damage and lost the duel.

H: 3000

L: 0

"The magic has ended," said Hayley and was then congratulated by Taniya, Bastion, Chazz, Craig, Syrus and Flo and the rest of the Slifers.

Larke growled, "Just you wait Hayley, I'll defeat you someday," and turned away, going back to her dorm.

"She is such a brat," said Taniya, shaking her head.

"She's nice," defended Jaden and everyone stared at him.

"What?" he asked confused as usual.

"Did anyone tell him he's stupid?" muttered Flo to Craig and he replied,

"Apparently not."

"So Taniya, what are you doing here?" asked Jaden.

"I'm the new Slifer Headmistress and while I'm at it, I have some rules for you all to follow. Number one, all homework must be completed because I'm going to bring up the standard of Slifer. Number two, if you want to have someone sleepover or have a bonfire or something like that, my permission must be asked first and even then it can only be on Friday and Saturday nights as I will not have my Slifers fall asleep in class because of late nights spent having too much fun. Last rule, no one from another dorm may live here; if you get promoted then you stay in your new dorm. If you or another student try it, they'll be kicked out and back to their dorm. That's all, now go and have fun on your first day back," said Taniya.

"Aw man," said Jaden.

The rest of the Slifers nodded at these rules and went off to do whatever. Bastion and Hayley stayed and talked with Taniya for the rest of the day and Bastion enjoyed getting to know the siblings.

Two Months Later

A lot had happened in the first two months; the Promotion exams had come and gone. Syrus had been offered a promotion to Ra by defeating an Obelisk called Missy and he was now living at the Ra dorms, Hasselberry was no longer causing trouble and was hanging around Craig and the others. Jaden had become Larke's flunky and thought that she was the greatest. Bastion had continued to get closer to Hayley and now considered her to be his best friend and vice versa. Taniya had definitely proven herself as the new Slifer Headmistress and the Slifers were starting to get a better reputation.

It was a sunny day and Bastion was wandering around enjoying the sunshine and was passing by the woods when he heard a beautiful sound, it sounded like a girl singing and decided to follow it. "…Feelin' good, feelin' good, feelin' good inside and out…"

He came to a clearing and saw that the girl who was singing was Hayley; there she was in all her glory, dancing gracefully and singing like an angel. Yes, in the time he had known her he had developed serious feelings for her and was hoping that one day he would have the courage to tell her that he wanted to go out with her. She began a new song,

"Make a new friend every day,

Learn a brand new game to play,

See the world a whole new way,

When you make a new friend every day

Make a chocolate cream parfait

Bake a cake or do ballet

Fun is never far away

When you make a new friend every day

I start singin', you start singin'

It's the sweetest song

Two together just sounds better

Come on sing along

Make a new friend every day,

Learn a brand new game to play

Happy times are here to stay

When you make a new friend, oh the fun never ends

When you make a new friend every day"

Hayley finished and was twirling around when she heard loud whistling and clapping, she fell and looked up to see her best friend standing there still clapping and whistling. He finally stopped and he grinned, "Bravo, Hayley that was beautiful, I had no idea that you could sing or dance." He helped her up and she blushed.

"Well I don't like people watching me, I feel silly and I'm also shy on stage, that's why no one but Taniya and my mother know," she looked uncomfortable.

"You didn't look silly and your singing and dancing was and is beautiful, you shouldn't feel silly and hide your talents away from the world. Hey, here's an idea, how about we have a Karaoke party?" Bastion asked.

"A Karaoke party?" asked Hayley, surprised.

"Sure, no one will make fun of you because everyone will be acting silly and I'll be there as well, it'll be fun," said Bastion smiling at his crush.

"Well, if you're sure that no one will laugh…" she trailed off.

"I'm sure, well Larke might but she's a highly unpleasant girl and your rival and will most likely be jealous but her opinion doesn't matter," encouraged Bastion.

"You promise that everyone will be acting silly and that you'll be there as well?" asked Hayley.

"I absolutely, positively, honestly, really, truly promise," declared Bastion.

"Well ok, I guess it could be fun," she said smiling at him, she had had a crush on him ever since Taniya had come home and shown her his picture and over the course of the past two months she had come to have serious feelings for him. She just wished that she could tell him.

"Great, I'll talk to Taniya about getting permission. Meanwhile, you start practicing," said Bastion and he ran off, but not to far as he bumped into Craig. "Ooof," and they both landed on the ground.

Bastion shook his head and stared, "Craig, what are you doing here," he and Hayley had gotten close to the Slifer and considered him to be a brother to them both.

"I heard someone singing, I came just as the song ended and I heard the Karaoke idea and I think that it's brilliant, it's about time we did something fun around here. Oh and by the way Hayley, you have a great voice," complimented Craig.

"Uh, thanks Craig," she said shyly.

"Hey, Craig, do you want to help me organize the Karaoke party? I could sure use your help," said Bastion.

"Sure thing Bast," said Craig cheerily.

The boys went off to Taniya and Hayley smiled, coming close to tears, she was so happy to have such good friends and then she touch her cheek with the wisteria on it, _'Maybe one day soon I can tell them that this isn't a tattoo and about my flower and why it doesn't wilt and why Larke calls me Little Princess,' _she thought and went off to collect Empress from her dorm room.

Meanwhile the boys had approached Taniya with their idea and she'd loved it so much that she had practically dragged them to Chancellor Sheppard to present their idea. He liked it and gave permission and now the boys were in Bastion's dorm room, planning things out.

"This is going to be great," said Craig.

"Yeah and Hayley will have her time to shine and get over her shyness," said Bastion happily, not noticing that he'd doodled a picture of him and Hayley in a heart with B heart H over it.

Craig did notice and grinned, "I see you like her," and pointed to his little picture. Bastion blushed and covered it up.

"Don't tell anyone, please Craig," he begged.

"I won't but if you don't tell her within a month I'll start thinking up schemes and putting you into uncomfortable situations until you do," he said cheerfully.

Bastion stared at his friend and shook his head muttering fine. Craig grinned and they continued to flesh out the party.

Xxxxx

Please review, thank you to everyone who did review.


	5. Extreme Entertainment

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 5: Extreme Entertainment**

For the past few days, the karaoke night had been planned, posters had been put up, and word had got around to just about every person in the school. Rumors were flying around about what was to happen during the party; the most famous of all was a Bastion-Craig duel sometime during the night, even though both of them had denied it.

Considering it was still two hours until the actual party started, Craig was still attempting to figure out what the deal was with Bastion bringing Craig up so early, 'in order to set up' as he called it.

Xxxxx

"So, you got me here too early, so I turned up late on purpose," said Craig jokingly, walking to the front door of the Ra dorm, where Bastion stood arms folded, slightly annoyed at the eventual appearance of Craig.

"Never mind excuses, just let's get going, I want tonight to be extraordinary," replied Bastion, leading Craig towards the Duel Tower, where the common room had been edited to have its tables and chairs removed for the night. 

Xxxxx

"So, here we are," said Bastion, showing Craig the room that was just-about set up already.

"Bastion, it's a hour and a half until this actually starts, and the rooms set up, so… do I need to be here yet?" asked Craig, turning round and getting ready to leave.

"I brought food, so if you get bored, you can eat," said Bastion, pulling out food from his bag that he brought with him.

"OK, I'm in," replied Craig, turning around and moving towards the 'stage area'.

xxxxx

Everyone had turned up for the night in their school uniforms, as nobody really had a clue what everyone else would wear, and decided it would be best to 'fit in' with the possible crowd.

"Hello, everyone, thank you very much for coming to our first entertainment night of the year. If you didn't already know, it's basically a simple karaoke night, just queue up by the entrance and we'll get you on," introduced Craig, turning towards the 'entrance' and seeing that Atticus Rhodes was first in line.

"Me first!" pleaded Atticus.

"I wish you all the best of luck," said Craig, walking off the stage, as Atticus jumped on happily.

Xxxxx

"Why on Earth did you let him do that," asked Alexis in despair, towards Craig, having witnessed her brother's music before.

"I thought it'd be funny," replied Craig.

"Here comes the one-man boy band," added Bastion, sitting down in between Craig and Hayley.

"Hello, everyone!" yelled Atticus, as Craig slammed his head down on his table, as temporary tables had been taken from the Ra and Slifer dorms to use for the night, as Crowler claimed the Obelisk ones were too 'precious', "Start the music, DJ!"

"Y'know, the DJ does have a name," said Crowler, slightly downfallen at the job he was suffering tonight.

xxxxx

(Music – Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley)

As the music began, as did Atticus' poor and atrocious dancing, everyone was gob smacked at the song choice, not only because of the dancing, but because it was something that would annoy them every time is played, and what was even worse, Atticus had began singing.

We're no strangers to love,  
You know the rules and so do I.  
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of,  
You wouldn't get this from any other guy.

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling,  
Gotta make you understand…

By this point, everyone had already slammed their head down on their tables, agitated at the song choice Atticus has chosen, and everyone was busy praying for it to end quickly, so they wouldn't be speaking for the remainder of the song.

Never gonna give you up,  
Never gonna let you down,  
Never gonna run around and desert you.  
Never gonna make you cry,  
Never gonna say goodbye,  
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

We've known each other for so long  
Your heart's been aching  
But you're too shy to say it.  
Inside we both know what's been going on,  
We know the game and we're gonna play it.

Annnnnd if you ask me how I'm feeling,  
Don't tell me you're too blind to see…

Never gonna give you up,  
Never gonna let you down,  
Never gonna run around and desert you.  
Never gonna make you cry,  
Never gonna say goodbye,  
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

Never gonna give you up,  
Never gonna let you down,  
Never gonna run around and desert you.  
Never gonna make you cry,  
Never gonna say goodbye,  
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

Give you up, give you up.  
Give you up, give you up.

Never gonna give  
Never gonna give, give you up.  
Never gonna give  
Never gonna give, give you up.

We've known each other for so long  
Your heart's been aching  
But you're too shy to say it.  
Inside we both know what's been going on,  
We know the game and we're gonna play it.

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling,  
Gotta make you understand…

Never gonna give you up,  
Never gonna let you down,  
Never gonna run around and desert you.  
Never gonna make you cry,  
Never gonna say goodbye,  
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

Atticus, receiving minor claps from a few maniacs, walked off the stage in joy, as Craig walked back onto the stage, looking half-zombified at Atticus' monstrosity of a song.

"I think I'm going to need a few minutes to recover from that," said Craig, "Who's next?"

Xxxxx

"For the last time, I went easy on you," joked Craig to Flo, as the discussion around the table continued.

"That's why you had that look on your face that showed you were trying; I've known you for ten years now, it's easy for me to read your mind," replied Flo.

Craig, even though the story was about his defeat to Flo, still went along and had a laugh with everyone else about the duel.

"Where's Jaden?" asked Alexis, changing the subject.

"Over there," replied Hayley, pointing, which was then followed up with the sarcastic remark, "Talking to my best Obelisk friend, Larke,"

"He's changed so much ever since she came here, Jaden used to be free-spirited and fun, now he's basically her lapdog, and what's the word, boring," replied Syrus.

"He was the reason I came to know all you guys, I want the old Sarge back!" moaned Hasselberry.

"Amen," said Craig, staring at Larke suspicious, before turning to her arms, which were uncovered due to her short-sleeved Obelisk shirt, and recognizing something on her arm, which looked like some sort of logo, "It can't be,"

Craig rose up from his chair, and remained staring over, holding a blank look on his face, and by this time, Flo had recognized the symbol on Flo's arm as well.

"What is it, Major?" asked Hasselberry.

"I'm going to…" began Craig, attempting to think of an excuse, "Go get a drink,"

And as Craig walked off towards Larke's direction, Flo sunk back into her chair and held her head in her hands.

"But the drinks are over…" said Bastion, "Oh, I see. It was an excuse,"

"Flo, you know something," realized Hayley.

Xxxxx

"What are you looking for?" asked Larke rudely.

"I know what I'm looking for, it's why I'm looking for it that you want to be worrying about," replied Craig.

"Hey, back off, she did nothing to you!" complained Jaden.

"Considering you love her so much, Jaden; I thought you would've wondered what that sign was that she has on her arm," explained Craig, pointing towards Larke's left arm, as Larke fell silent.

"What?" wondered Jaden, staring at the mark and wondering what it meant.

"No-one recognized it because it's so faint, but I did; Larke, why do you have that sign on your arm?" asked Craig calmly.

"Look, Hayley, your friend, she's the bad one, and these people will help me plot to make her life miserable and worthless," stated Larke.

"I don't believe that Hayley's bad, that's you, and those anarchists took my little brother away from me," replied Craig again.

"Not her problem," defended Jaden.

"Oh? Your little brother? James Thresher, was it? Yes, he's still there, they fed him once a day with bread and water, very small quantities of course, and what else? Oh yes, torture, lots of tort-" insulted Larke.

Larke quickly found herself picked up off her feet and shoved against the wall, Jaden unable to do anything due to shock.

"But surely, if you do hurt me right now, that would make you worse than those 'anarchists'?" said Larke clearly, with no sign of fear.

Craig realized this and slowly relaxed his grip on Larke, and she pushed his arm away from her.

"Craig, are you OK?" asked Flo, pretending not to notice Larke and staring at him.

"Oh, it's another imbecile! You people breed like animals!" insulted Larke.

"This isn't the last we'll be seeing of each other I don't think," clarified Craig, turning around and walking off.

"Pathetic," added Flo, following him.

"What was that all about?" asked Jaden, with a confused look on his face.

"I'll tell you later," replied Larke.

Xxxxx

Many more people had sang and left the area again, but not many people had shone out and were making much to talk about, other than Atticus' onslaught of boredom; and at the table of the main characters, Craig had an unexpected guest.

"Craig," said Taniya.

"Can I help?" enquired Craig, wondering what was going on.

"Larke just came to the nearest teacher, which was unfortunately me, and claimed you hurt her?" asked Taniya.

"See you later," said Craig to Flo, as he walked out of the entrance door, unable to take much more of tonight's events.

Xxxxx

"You know why Craig is so mad tonight?" asked Bastion.

"Yes, when he was put into the Slifer dorm, we had to check his records, I believe I'm one of the only two people at this school who knows," replied Taniya, staring at Flo whilst saying the last few lines.

"Care to explain?" asked Chazz.

"Long story," she said.

"Long night," moaned Chazz, angry at how he had been dragged along to this event.

"OK, when Craig was ten, his older brother was taken from him and seemingly possessed. Craig wasn't hurt by this much, considering him and his older brother never got on. But when he was thirteen, his older brother returned, dueled Craig, and when Craig had lost, he stole his little brother, James, as well. That thing that I saw on Larke's arm; I think is the symbol of these anarchists," explained Taniya, taking the empty seat left by Craig.

"Hey, where'd Hayley go?" asked Bastion.

"She's up there," said Taniya, pointing towards Hayley with her face, who was standing in the queue for the karaoke, and was next in line.

"Is she a good singer?" asked Alexis hopefully, having experienced enough bad antics tonight.

"Definitely," replied Bastion, having heard Hayley singing before, he hoped that she wouldn't choke.

Xxxxx

Hayley walked up onto the stage, many recognizing her face from her entrance exam victory, and as the music began singing, Hayley was feeling nervous and felt silly but then remembered how bad Atticus was and that Bastion had promised her that he would be there. She looked for him and saw him staring up at her grinning and giving her the thumbs up. She smiled and deciding to relax, she opened her mouth and sang, her voice coming out, pure and sweet.

"Woah…Woah…yeah…

I… get a high whenever you're around  
Sweeping from my head to my toes  
I, I gotta get my feet back on the ground

'Cause you makin' me go  
Out of my way, crossing the line  
Making me say what I have in mind…

"She's got real talent!" said Atticus, still acting like the talent show judge he would never become. Hayley started to lightly spin and move gracefully around the stage making some of the boys whistle, which made Bastion glare.

You make me so excited  
And I don't wanna fight it  
I start to blush  
You are my sugar rush  
Ain't nothin' better, baby  
Is it for real or maybe  
I'm losing touch  
You are my sugar rush

"Woah, that's Hayley's singing? It's so angelic," commented Syrus. Bastion heard and if it had been any other boy he would have been suspicious of the compliment but since it was Syrus he didn't have anything to worry about. He didn't want any competition.

I got a sweet tooth and a taste for you  
And it might be too obvious  
But I (I, I, I) Can't help myself from what I do

'Cause you makin' me go  
Out of my way (Out of my way)  
Crossing the line (Crossing the line)  
Making me say what I have in mind (Woah, woah)

You make me so excited  
And I don't wanna fight it  
I start to blush  
You are my sugar rush  
Ain't nothing better, baby  
Is it for real or maybe?  
I'm losing touch  
You are my sugar rush.

At this point, many people were experiencing the first good singing voice they'd heard all night, and were getting up in order to sing along.

(You make) You make me so excited  
(I don't) And I don't wanna fight it  
(You are) I start to blush  
You are my sugar rush  
('Cause there ain't) Ain't nothing better, baby  
(For real?) Is it for real or maybe?  
(You are) I'm losing touch  
You are my sugar rush

Baby you're my sugar rush  
I get weak and talk too much  
You're the sweetest thing I ever tasted  
Baby you're my sugar rush  
I get weak and talk too much

'Cause you make me go  
Out of my way (out of my way), crossing the line (crossing the line)  
Making me say what I have in mind

(You make) You make me so excited  
(I don't) And I don't wanna fight it  
(You are) I start to blush  
You are my sugar rush  
('Cause there ain't) Ain't nothing better, baby  
(For real?) Is it for real or maybe?  
(You are) I'm losing touch  
You are my sugar rush

Baby you're my sugar rush  
I get weak and talk too much  
You're the sweetest thing I ever tasted  
(You are my sugar rush, baby)

Baby you're my sugar rush  
I get weak and talk too much  
You're the sweetest thing I ever tasted  
(You are my sugar rush, Yeah-eah-eah)  
Baby you're my sugar rush  
I get weak and talk too much  
You are my sugar rush

As the applause led Hayley off the stage, Bastion, still curious about how Craig was coming along, and mouthed "Are you ok?"

"Everyone!" yelled Crowler with ecstasy, "Tonight during the break, we have a very special treat for all of you!"

As everyone stood around wondering what this 'treat' would be, and knowing Crowler, it would either be detention, or the true revelation of what gender he actually was.

"We have a duel! Our second-year Ra student, Bastion Misawa, will be dueling… a freshman Slifer slacker…" said Crowler, reading the line-ups, "Oh right, Craig Thresher,"

Both the duelists walked onto the stage, Bastion with a larger-than-life smile on his face, and Craig with a normal look on his face, of which slowly edged into a smile.

"And bring on the duel!" yelled Crowler.

"Duel!" yelled both of the duelists.

Bastion: 4000  
Craig: 4000

"I'll start things off!" said Bastion, "And I'll begin with Mathematician, and when he's Summoned, I have to send the top card in my Deck to the Graveyard, but when he's destroyed, I get to draw one; and that'll be all," he said. (M 1500/500)

"And it's over to me," added Craig, "And I'll Summon Beta, the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode, and straight away, he'll attack your Mathematician!" (BMW 1700/1600)

Beta the Magnet Warrior appeared on the field, and gave a thumbs-up to Craig, before taking a small dagger out, and taking out Mathematician, which then allowed Bastion to draw.

Bastion: 3800  
Craig: 4000

"And then, I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light, disabling you from attacking me for three whole turns," said Craig, as Bastion's field was surrounded with luminous swords, "That'll be all."

Many people looked towards Bastion, who looked slightly unhappy at not being able to attack for three turns, but turned to positive once he saw the card he had drawn.

"I activate my own Swords of Revealing Light, and you know what that does!" repeated Bastion, as the remainder of the field was struck with luminous swords.

"It's some sort of… light show?" attempted Syrus, trying to create a joke.

"Then, I'll Summon a type of monster you're very accustomed with, Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus in Attack Mode!" summoned Bastion, as an orange warrior with its own sword appeared, "I'll also play a face-down to end," Bastion said.  
(MWSP 1800/1500)

"You want a Magnet Battle? You got a Magnet Battle! I'll add Gamma the Magnet Warrior to defend my troops!" said Craig cheerfully, as the red, plump Magnet Warrior appeared and also gave Craig the thumbs up. (GMW 1500/1800)

"Hey, that's my line!" yelled Hasselberry at the army reference.

"And I'll play a face-down to end," finished Craig.

"OK then, whilst we're on the subject of Defense, I'll add Magnet Warrior Omega Minus (1900/600) in Defense Mode as well! And then, let's wipe away these swords with a bit of Mystical Space Typhoon," activated Bastion, as the luminous swords disappeared, "And let's borrow a bit of your Magnet Fusion, as Omega Minus and Sigma Plus come together to form Conduction Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus in Attack Mode!" (CWLMPM 2700/1300)

"Try saying that five times fast," muttered Craig.

"I only need to say it once; Conduction Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus, attack his Beta the Magnet Warrior!" attacked Bastion, as the Conduction Warrior fired a magnetic blast at the puny warrior in comparison.

"Activate my face-down, Enemy Controller! And with this handy little game controller, I'm going to switch your monster into Defense Mode, Enemy Controller; A-B-Up-Left-Start!" said Craig, reading the buttons necessary, and the Conduction Warrior was switched into Defense Mode.

"Fine then, I'll end my turn with a face-down," finished Bastion.

"Over to me then I guess!" said Craig, drawing, "And I'll take back my Magnet Fusion with Gamma and Beta fusing together with the Alpha in my hand to form, Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior!" (VMW 3500/3850)

The three Magnet Warriors disarmed their bodies into separate pieces, and formed together again into one, the Magna Warrior.

"I'll also play two face-downs, and destroy your swords with my own Mystical Space Typhoon, and then my Magna Warrior is going to attack your Conduction Warrior, with Electrical Magnetic Pulse!" attacked Craig, as Valkyrion drew out his sword, and charged towards the Conduction Warrior.

"You've done your Math wrong, you seriously think I'd allow that to happen; no. Activate face-down card, Ring of Destruction, destroying your monster and inflicting damage equal to its Attack Power to our Life Points!" retaliated Bastion, as a ring equipped onto Valkyrion's neck, and imploded, and knocked the two duelists onto the ground.

Bastion: 300  
Craig: 500

"I'll end my turn there then," finished Craig.

As Bastion drew, Craig immediately pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Magnetic Repair! Gains me 500 Life Points for each Magnet Warrior in my Graveyard, and I count 4!" explained Craig, as a healthy magnetic pulse from his Graveyard gave him some Life Points.

Bastion: 300  
Craig: 2500

"It won't be enough to save you I'm afraid; for I switch my Conduction Warrior back into Attack Mode, and it'll attack your Life Points directly! Thanks for the duel, Craig, but I always find brains overcome brawn," attacked Bastion, as Conduction Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus prepared the last magnetic blast of the match.

"And I'm going to use brains here and now, activate my face-down, Graverobber! For the price of 2000 Life Points, I can take a card from your Graveyard!" replied Craig.

Bastion: 300  
Craig: 500

"So that's why you replenished your Life Points!" figured Bastion.

"Correct, and there's no prize for guessing which card I've taken, so c'mon back, Ring of Destruction!" said Craig happily, as Ring of Destruction stuck onto Conduction Warrior Linear Magnum Plus Minus' neck, and imploded again, finishing the match.

Bastion: 0  
Craig: 0

"It's a… draw?" exclaimed Syrus, as everyone around them got up and clapped the two duelists.

"Thank you everyone again for watching us both pit our forces against each other," thanked Bastion.

"Yup, and for this second half, we're moving all the chairs and tables away, so we can use this floor thingy for dancing," announced Craig, as straight away everyone began shoveling the tables to the walls.

"So, who's first?" asked Bastion.

"Oh, move over, I'll go," replied Craig, seeing the empty line.

Xxxxx

"What a rubbish duel," muttered Larke angrily.

"Hey look, Craig's going to sing," pointed out Jaden.

"This should be funny," she remarked. 

Xxxxx

As people gathered around the newly-made dance floor, everyone awaited the music to begin and Craig to start, so when he did…

There will be no rules tonight  
If there were we'd break 'em  
Nothing's gonna stop us now  
Let's get down to it  
Nervous hands and anxious smiles  
I can feel you breathing  
This is right where we belong  
Turn up the music

Oh oh oh oh oh

This is the dance for all the lovers  
Takin' a chance for one another  
Finally it's our time now  
These are the times that we'll remember  
Breaking the city's heart together  
Finally it's our time now  
It's our time now

Bastion gave a slight bow and held out his hand to Hayley, "May I…er have this dance?"

She blushed, "Of course," and took his hand. He led her onto the dance floor and they began to move with the music.

This is more than just romance  
It's an endless summer  
I can feel the butterflies, leading me through it  
Take my heart, I'll take your hand  
As we're falling under  
This is an addiction girl  
Let's give in to it

Oh oh oh oh oh

This is the dance for all the lovers  
Takin' a chance for one another  
Finally it's our time now  
These are the times that we'll remember  
Breaking the city's heart together  
Finally it's our time now  
It's our time now

Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh

Now

It's a dance  
Get up  
Come on brothers  
Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh

This is the dance for all the lovers  
Takin' a chance for one another  
Finally it's our time now  
These are the times that we'll remember  
Breaking the city's heart together  
Finally it's our time now  
It's our time now  
(It's our time now)  
It's our time now  
(It's our time now)  
Oh oh oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh oh oh  
Finally it's our time now

After Craig finished, and he had waved goodbye to everyone as he walked off stage, and the dancing around the room had finished, the students were eagerly awaiting the next song, and next to step on stage, was… Bastion Misawa, and once again, the people in the room were confused; Bastion, singing? Would everyone eventually find someone worse at singing then Atticus? The music began again, and even though he was singing, Bastion didn't feel like making a fool of himself by jumping around on the stage.

It was no accident me finding you  
Someone had a hand in it  
Long before we ever knew  
Now I just can't believe you're in my life  
Heaven's smilin' down on me  
As I look at you tonight

I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars  
He sure knew what he was doin'  
When he joined these two hearts  
I hold everything  
When I hold you in my arms  
I've got all I'll ever need  
Thanks to the keeper of the stars

Soft moonlight on your face oh how you shine  
It takes my breath away  
Just to look into your eyes  
I know I don't deserve a treasure like you  
There really are no words  
To show my gratitude

So I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars  
He sure knew what he was doin'  
When he joined these two hearts  
I hold everything  
When I hold you in my arms  
I've got all I'll ever need  
Thanks to the keeper of the stars

It was no accident me finding you  
Someone had a hand in it  
Long before we ever knew

As Bastion then walked off the stage as well, and Craig jumped onto it cheerily, pointing towards Bastion Misawa, who shocked everyone when he had had a good singing voice.

"Bastion Misawa everybody!" yelled Craig, "Now, we have time for three more songs before we have to 'clear off' in Crowler's terms, so next up, please welcome… Actually… don't welcome her," he said.

Craig walked off stage, and Larke walked off and our main characters were wondering what was going on…

"Her, singing?" wondered Alexis.

"Maybe she'll sing the Tweety Bird song," joked Taniya, making the people around her laugh.

"So… uh, I don't do this very often, but I thought, if everyone else could do it, why can't I?" said Larke on stage, ensuing a few coughs of 'Atticus Rhodes'.

And the music began once more for the girl on stage, and she began singing with her half-decent voice…

Small town homecoming queen  
She's the star in this scene  
There's no way to deny she's lovely  
Perfect skin, perfect hair  
Perfumed hearts everywhere  
Tell myself that inside she's ugly  
Maybe I'm just jealous  
I can't help but hate her  
Secretly I wonder if my boyfriend wants to date her

She is the prom queen I'm in the marching band  
She is a cheerleader I'm sitting in the stands  
She gets the top bunk I'm sleeping on the floor  
She's Miss America and I'm just the girl next door

Senior class president  
She must be heaven sent  
She was never the last one standing  
A backseat debutant  
Everything that you want  
Never too harsh or too demanding  
Maybe I'll admit it  
I'm a little bitter  
Everybody loves her but I just wanna hit her

She is the prom queen I'm in the marching band  
She is a cheerleader I'm sitting in the stands  
She gets the top bunk I'm sleeping on the floor  
She's Miss America and I'm just the girl next door  
Oh and I'm just the girl next door

I don't know why I'm feeling sorry for myself  
I spend all my time wishing that I was someone else

She is the prom queen I'm in the marching band  
She is a cheerleader I'm sitting in the stands  
I get a little bit, she gets a little more  
She's Miss America and… She's Miss America  
I'm just the girl next door…

"Can you smell that, Bastion?" said Craig, walking with Bastion onto the stage.

"Smell what?" enquired Bastion.

"Jealously, my friend, jealously. But nonetheless, I'm on the stage now, and for the penultimate time tonight, please welcome our singers," welcomed Craig.

"Hayley?" asked Bastion.

"Bastion," replied Hayley.

"Are you ok about your singing now?" whispered Bastion to his crush. She nodded and smiled at him.

Xxxxx

"That was awesome!" complimented Jaden.

"Thanks J, by the way, there's someone I'd like you to meet," thanked Larke.

"Who?" he asked curiously.

"Just follow me," said Larke, walking out of the front door with Jaden, as everyone ignored them to see the song that was to be sung.

(A/N Italic means Hayley is singing, Bold means Bastion is singing, both mean both are singing)

**Living in my own world  
Didn't understand  
That anything can happen  
When you take a chance  
**_I never believed in_**(ooh)**_  
What I couldn't see  
I never opened my heart_ **(ooh)**  
_To all the possibilities (ooh)_  
_**I know **__that something has changed  
__**Never felt this way**__  
And right here tonight_

_**This could be the start  
Of something new**_  
_It feels so right  
__**To be here with you (ooh)  
And now looking in your eyes  
**__I feel in my heart_ **(feel in my heart)**  
_**The start of something new**_**(oh yeah)**

**Now who'd of ever thought that (ooh)**  
_**We'd both be here tonight**_ **(ooh **_yeah)_  
_And the world looks so much brighter_ (**brighter, brighter)**  
_With you by my side_ **(by my side)**  
_**I know that something has changed  
Never felt this way**_  
_I know it for real_

_**This could be the start  
Of something new  
It feels so right  
To be here with you (ooh)  
And now looking in your eyes  
I feel in my heart  
The start of something new**_

**I never knew that it could happen  
Till it happened to me (ooh, yeah)  
**_**I didn't know it before  
**__But now it's easy to__** see (ooh)**_

_**It's the start  
Of something new  
It feels so right  
To be here with you (ooh)  
And now looking in your eyes  
I feel in my heart**_

That it's the start  
Of something new  
It feels so right **(so right,)**  
_To be here with you_ **(ooh, **_ooh, __**ooh**_**)**  
_And now looking in your eyes_ **(in your eyes)**  
_I feel in my heart _**(feel in my heart)**_  
The start of something new_  
**Start of something new  
**_The start of_ _**something new**_

Everyone clapped loudly for the singing pair as they walked off the stage, and Craig once again bounded onto the stage, for the final time.

"Wow… Now then, as no-one else is queuing up, I'd like to ask a question to someone in here," announced Craig, "Flo, how about it?"

Flo immediately upon request jumped out of her seat and onto the stage, next to Craig.

"Hey VIP, let's kick it!" said Craig, saying the first line of the song to Crowler.

"You think I'm important?" said Crowler cheerily.

"Nope," replied Craig.

(Bold means Craig is singing, Italic means Flo is singing, and both mean both are singing)

**Pressure, pushing down on me  
Pressing down on you, no man ask for  
Under pressure, that burns a building down  
Splits a family in two  
Puts people on streets  
**  
_All right stop  
Collaborate and listen  
Jedward's back with a brand new invention  
Something grabs a hold of me tightly  
Flow like a harpoon daily and nightly  
_**Will it ever stop?  
Yo - I don't know  
Turn off the lights and I'll go  
To the extreme I rock a mic like a vandal  
Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle  
**  
_**Pressure, pushing down on me  
Pressing down on you, no man ask for**_

_**Dance - Bum rush the speaker that booms  
I'm killin' your brain like a poisonous mushroom  
Deadly - when I play a dope melody  
Anything less than the best is a felony  
Love it or leave it  
**_**You better gain way  
You better hit bull's eye  
The kid don't play  
**_If there was a problem  
Yo I'll solve it  
Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it_

Pressure, pushing down on me  
Pressing down on you, no man ask for  
Under pressure, that burns a building down  
Splits a family in two  
Puts people on streets  
**  
It's the terror of knowing  
What this world is about,  
Watching some good friends  
Screaming `Let me out'  
Pray tomorrow takes me higher  
Pressure on people, people on streets**

_**Ice Ice Baby  
Ice Ice Baby  
**_  
**Now that the party is jumpin'  
With the bass kicked in, and the Vegas all pumpin'  
Quick to the point, to the point no fakin'  
Cooking MC's like a pound of bacon  
**_Burning them if you ain't quick and nimble  
I go crazy when I hear a cymbal  
And a hi-hat with a supped up tempo  
I'm on a roll - it's time to go solo  
_  
**Pressure  
**  
_Pressure_

**Pressure  
**  
_Pressure_

**Pressure**

_Pressure_

**Pressure**

_Pressure_  
**  
Pressure**

_Pressure_

**Pressure  
**  
**Rollin' - in my 5.0  
With my ragtop down so my hair can blow  
The girlies on standby  
Waiting just to say "hi"  
Did you stop?  
**_No - I just drove by  
Kept on - pursuing to the next stop  
I busted a left and I'm heading to the next block  
That block was dead  
Yo - so I continued to A1A Beachfront Avenue._

_Pressure, pushing down on me  
Pressing down on you, no man ask for  
Under pressure,_ **that burns a building down  
Splits a family in two  
Puts people on streets  
**  
_**It's the terror of knowing  
What this world is about,  
Watching some good friends**_  
**Screaming `Let me out'**  
_Pray tomorrow takes me higher  
Pressure on people, people on streets_

**Ice Ice Baby  
Ice Ice Baby  
**_Ice Ice Baby  
Ice Ice Baby_

And as the music faded, the night was over, and the crowd for the door left, as Craig and Bastion looked at each other, and just smiled, speechless at how the night had turned out.

Xxxxx

Please Review


	6. Beauty Pagent! Flower VS Bird

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 6: Beauty Pageant! Flower VS Bird**

A month had passed since the Karaoke Night and Hayley had earned the nickname Starsong, given by Bastion and he had yet to confess his feelings to her.

Chancellor Sheppard was having a meeting with his staff about the event that was going to take place in two days time.

"So we are all agreed that these are the boys we want, no other nominations?" asked Sheppard.

Everyone nodded though Taniya didn't look too happy at the choice of one of the candidates.

"Right, dismissed," said Sheppard and everyone went back to marking, insulting Slifers, cooking and Taniya wandered back to the Slifer Dorms where she ran into Bastion and Hayley eating lunch with Craig and Flo.

"Hey sis," said Hayley cheerfully taking one of her favourite Takoyaki balls and popping it into her mouth. She adored them.

"Hi Taniya," greeted Bastion, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Hey," chorused Craig and Flo.

"Hey guys, ya got room for one more?" asked Taniya and they nodded. She flopped down next to her sister and grabbed a fried shrimp.

"What's wrong Taniya, is something bothering you?" asked Hayley in concern. Her sister looked really bummed about something.

"Yeah, but I can't tell you as Chancellor Sheppard is going to announce it later, so just wait," said Taniya, taking another fried shrimp and eating it.

"Ooook," said Craig looking at his headmistress and then exchanging looks with the others.

Bastion cast about for something to say and asked, "So Taniya, why did you become a Shadow Rider in the first place?" and immediately wished that he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have…" and he trailed off as Taniya laughed at the expression on his face.

"Don't worry about it Bastion, as a matter of fact I was wondering when one of you would ask me, why don't you go and get everyone who faced the Shadow Riders last year and I'll tell you my reasons," she said and Bastion nodded, racing off to get his friends.

He soon came back with Chazz, Syrus, Alexis, Atticus, Crowler, Hasselberry and Pharaoh in tow.

"Where's Jaden?" asked Taniya frustrated, she didn't want to tell it twice.

Bastion rolled his eyes, "With our favourite Obelisk snob, Larke, apparently she's telling him the same story and knowing Jaden he won't listen to anyone but Larke and if we try to contradict her he'll throw a fit. I thought it best to leave them," replied Bastion, frowning at how much Jaden had changed all because of Larke.

"Good," said Hayley and everyone turned to look at her. "I never liked him; even if I only met him when he was with Larke I still didn't like him from his reputation. He's lazy, stupid, greedy, never let's anyone else duel when there's trouble, he doesn't work at anything, he's over-confident and only wins ninety percent of his duels with luck and the other ten percent he actually has to summon up some skill from somewhere. He has no strategy when dueling; it's just using fusion over and over again and then there's the fact that he likes to duel because he likes to win, never for anyone or anything else, just winning. If you read between the lines you'll see what I mean. It all boils down to one thing, I don't like him and I never will and I think there's something evil about him," said Hayley.

Syrus leaped to defend his friend, "Jaden's not evil!"

"Look, go and do some research on him, did you know that until he came to Duel Academy he didn't have any friends and was labeled as a weird kid with a freaky deck that sent people to the hospital when he lost, which was all the time as he was pretty pathetic duelist when he was a kid. No one liked him and no one wanted to play with him, especially since one of the kids he dueled was actually put in a coma because he lost. He apparently had a card with an overprotective and evil spirit in it that caused all the damage. He doesn't use it now but he's a bad guy and it's like I said, he likes winning, it shows in his childhood duels and that card, he duels to win, nothing more," said Hayley.

"She' right about Jaden's past, I looked it up with her and as I'm close to spirits myself I can also see that there's something about him that just strikes me as evil," said Taniya backing up her sisters words. No one knew what to say and no one wanted to believe it but Hayley was very honest and so was Taniya and they realized that they knew absolutely nothing about Jaden apart from what they'd seen of him, he never ever talked about his past, parents, friends, old school, they knew nothing.

"Well, now that that's over with I think I'll tell you my story now," said Taniya and everyone nodded and listened as she began to tell her tale.

"Last year when you were all being accepted into Duel Academy I was approached by Kagemaru and asked to be a Shadow Rider. It was a normal day in the village and I was sparing with Hayley and then a fierce wind picked up and we all stopped what we were doing to see a helicopter descending. A capsule was placed in front of us and then he began to speak, telling us about the Sacred Beast cards and how he wanted one of us to become one of his Shadow Riders. He seemed to scan us and then said that he'd come back in a few months to tell us his decision. About three months later he came back and said that I was the one he'd chosen, because I was one of the strongest Amazons, I had a visible Duel Spirit and I was the best adult Duelist in the Village. (Hayley is the best teen duelist in the village) I wasn't sure about it but I realized that Kagemaru was powerful and he could hurt Hayley if I refused and I'd be damned if I let that happen, so I accepted and left one month later. As I told Bastion on the first day of school Kagemaru didn't let me contact Hayley but Lyman helped me to do just that. That's why I became a Shadow Rider, it wasn't for a husband like I said, I just needed an excuse so that the rest of the Shadow Riders would leave me alone," explained Taniya.

So Taniya had been that only Shadow Rider whose intent had been to protect and not harm, she hadn't done it for herself, she'd done it for her sister. This revelation made everybody respect her even more.

"Hey, don't forget Etain!' exclaimed Hayley and Taniya slapped her forehead.

"Of course, I totally forgot about her."

"Who's Etain?" asked Syrus.

"She's my rival, she was hoping to be chosen to be a Shadow Rider but as you know I was chosen. She was furious and, well, she's hated me since we were twelve when I defeated here in our first acceptance fight. It's a fight to see who the strongest preteen is and to be accepted as a true Amazon. If you don't go all the way you have to keep on having acceptance fights until you win. Hayley did the same to Larke but their rivalry goes back even further. Anyway she was really jealous and this year she swore to get her revenge, though I don't know how she's going to do that," concluded Taniya.

"Etain means jealousy," commented Bastion and Taniya and Hayley laughed,

"That really suits her," said Taniya with a smile.

Chancellor Sheppard's voice then sounded over the intercom, "WOULD ALL STUDENTS AND ALL TEACHERS PLEASE REPORT TO THE HALL AT ONCE! THANK YOU!" 

Everyone looked at Taniya and Flo asked if this was what she was unhappy about and she nodded. Everyone then left and ten minutes later the whole school was seated in the hall.

Sheppard stepped up to the mic and smiled, "Thank you for coming so promptly. I am pleased to announce that we are having a Beauty Pageant. Every girl will be competing. We have also selected five boys. The girls will face off in five contests, Singing, Dancing, Knowledge, Athletics and Beauty. Whoever wins will be crowned the Beauty Queen. The boys will have a simple competition, an obstacle course and the winner will be the King. The boys will go first today and then the girls will do their contests. The boys are Bastion Misawa, Chazz Princeton, Atticus Rhodes, Aster Phoenix and Jaden Yuki! Please come on up," said Sheppard and they did.

"The boys contest will start in half an hour, if you want to watch then come to the track then. Ok, I wish you all good luck," said Sheppard and everyone cheered.

Jaden was ecstatic, "Woah, yeah, I can't wait to win!"

Now, everyone who had heard Taniya's story and Hayley's telling of Jaden's past looked at each other and then at Jaden and then at Hayley. She just shook her head at Jaden and went over to Bastion to congratulate him. He was talking to Aster Phoenix and Aster's friends, Sartorious and Sarina Seer. The Pro League Duelist had joined Duel Academy to experience normal school life and Sartorious and his younger sister Sarina had joined him, all were in Obelisk and were quite friendly. Sartorious and Sarina had the power to see into the future by reading tarot cards and Aster was searching for his father and he was a rival to Jaden as he used his Destiny Heroes to defeat him.

"I can tell you your future if you would like Bastion," offered Sartorious.

"Um, sure, thanks Sartorious," said Bastion, he wasn't really sure if he believed in fortune telling but everyone who had their fortunes read said that it had come true, so he would go with it. Sartorious used his cards and told Bastion that he was the Moon in an upright position, the Lovers were also upright and someone special to him was the Star, upright, this meant that he would find love with someone special to him and they would always be together just like the real moon and stars were. He blushed as he thought of Hayley, if this was his future, well then; he certainly looked forward to it.

"Hey Bastion," said a voice he recognized and turned to see the object of his affections walking towards him with Empress at her heels.

"Hey Hayley, what's up?" he asked.

"Nothin' much, just Jaden acting like he's King already but I know that you'll win the contest to become King, no offense to you Aster, "she said.

"None taken, it's obvious you want your boyfriend to win," said Aster, he liked Hayley as she was always kind to him and always asked about his father.

Bastion and Hayley blushed furiously at the implement that they were together.

"Uh, Aster, we're not together," Bastion informed him and Hayley nodded, but Aster and the other two could see that they both looked regretful at the statement.

"Right, sorry about that," he said.

"It's ok, so, have you found your dad yet?" asked Hayley kindly. Aster shook his head and looked sad and Bastion and Hayley smiled at him in sympathy.

Xxxxx

All too soon it was time for the boys contest and there they were all lined up by the starting line, Bastion, Aster, Atticus, Chazz and Jaden.

"The rules are simple, no skipping any obstacles, if you fail an obstacle you are out of the race, no cheating and finish as fast as possible. On your marks, get set, GO!" said Crowler and the boys were off. First were the high hurdles, which Bastion, Aster, Atticus and Chazz cleared with ease and Jaden tripped, knocking them down and himself out. Everyone laughed at that.

Then came the rope climb where Chazz, Bastion and Aster excelled but Atticus gave himself rope burn and had to be given treatment next to Jaden who was still knocked out. It was then the tires and that was where Chazz fell, literally and got tangled up in them. It was down to Aster and Bastion, through the tunnel, over the wall, and then it was a mad dash to the finish.

"Tired yet Bastion?" asked Aster.

"No way, watch me run," said Bastion and as he ran he heard a voice coming from the stands and saw that it was Hayley, she was cheering him on. A vision of standing next to her wearing a crown and her wearing a tiara in a pretty dress gave him the speed he needed and broke through the ribbon first, just barely beating Aster. The crowd went wild as Bastion was pretty popular.

"Great race Bastion," said Aster and they shook hands.

"Yes, it was a good race Aster," he replied.

"Bastion!" called a voice and he turned to see Hayley dashing towards him and then found himself engulfed in a big hug, "I knew you would win, I just knew it!" she said happily and nuzzled her head against his shoulder, making him breathe in her scent which was of her pretty flower, Wisteria flowers and chocolate strawberries. It made him shudder in delight and he felt a tad lightheaded as well.

"Thank you Starsong, it was your cheering that enabled me to win, it gave me that extra push," he said hugging her back and she smiled brightly at him. Needless to say they were both very happy at that moment and Taniya smiled from where she was watching them, they were made for each other. Craig was also seeing this scene and remembered his promise to begin matchmaking if Bastion hadn't told Hayley how he felt. It was time to act on that promise.

"Ok, now that Bastion Misawa has won himself the title of King we will be moving onto the girls competitions. Will all the girls please make their way to the stage?" asked Crowler. They did as he asked and soon all the boys were sitting down ready to watch the first contest, Dancing and Singing. Bastion was sitting next to Taniya just off the stage, as the King he had the right to see things up close.

"You will all dance whatever you feel like dancing to the music and if you stop before the music you are disqualified. Then we will move onto the singing, good luck," said Crowler and once the music started every girl was dancing away, all determined to become Queen, but Larke had a few tricks up her sleeve and danced into many girls deliberately knocking them out of the contest, she tried to dance into Hayley who wobbled and fell but using her Amazon reflexes turned the fall into a dance move and regained her rhythm, making Larke mad. In the end after eighty girls there were forty left standing.

"Now, for the singing contest, we will play some music and you will have to sing your own words to it. If you stop or can't think of any lyrics, then you are out of the contest, ready, begin," said Crowler and the music started. Several girls dropped out almost at once because they had stage fright or they couldn't think of any words right off the bat. Larke managed to confuse the girls next her into stopping by singing 'stop singing' and that made two more girls stop singing, at the end of the music it had been narrowed down to twenty girls.

Then came the Knowledge part, they each had to answer one question and if they got it right they would go to the athletics contest. Fifteen made it. Missy, Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, Flo, Hayley, Larke, Tina, Brenda, Jade, Darla, Sawyer, Kale, Wendy and Zoe.

They trooped out to the obstacle course; it was the same one that the boys went through. When Crowler said GO they were off. The hurdles were conquered by Hayley, Alexis, Flo, Larke, Missy, Jasmine, Mindy, Jade, Sawyer, Kale, Wendy and Zoe, leaving Tina, Brenda and Darla out of the race. The rope climb was easy for Hayley, Flo, Alexis, Larke, Sawyer, Jade, Mindy, Jasmine, Missy and Kale.

The tires tripped up Kale and then after the tunnel it was the wall that stopped Jade, Missy and Sawyer. In the end it was Hayley, Mindy, Alexis, Larke, Flo and Jasmine. They had three hours to prepare for the beauty contest. Larke knew that she had to take Hayley down and make her so ugly that no one would think to vote for her.

Hayley was not worried about the contest, she knew, although she didn't like acknowledging it as it made her seem vain, which she was not, that she was the most beautiful girl in the school and that everyone would vote for her. Alexis was her only real competition, the others were pretty but everyone would only look at the Queen of Obelisk and the young Amazon. She listened to some music to relax and then went to take a swim; she didn't see Larke following her but Taniya, Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine and Flo did and they followed her and Bass followed his mistress.

Larke waited until Hayley was under the water and then poured a green liquid into it as well as a muddy gritty liquid and then she left. Hayley came up for air and screamed when she saw herself, her skin was now a filthy mud colour and her hair was green, her pink streaks hidden and her wisteria mark was also hidden under the mud colour.

"Hayley!" cried several voices above her and she looked up to see her sister and friends staring down at her in shock.

"I'm going to kill that little bird!" screamed Taniya and Bass gave a great roar that made everyone who heard it wonder what was going on. The girls carefully helped Hayley out of the water, her tears doing nothing to get rid of the mud colour.

"Don't worry sis, due to Larke's inexperience the concoction she doused you with isn't permanent and I know how to get it off, let's go to my old arena and we'll fix you up," comforted Taniya and the girls made sure that no one saw them as they headed to the arena.

"Ok, here you go, just sit here while I give you the royal treatment," said Taniya and with a bottle in her hand, began to sing,

"Gosh, aroony, I don't mean to stare

I'm wonderin' what the heck is under there

But trust in me and soon you'll be feelin' good, feelin' good

Workin' on a really awesome scale

We're such a perfect team, no way we'll fail

You'll wanna shout, it's all about, feelin' good inside and out

You've got so much beauty inside you; I guess you've never been told

But I could see from the start, you've got a heart of solid gold

You're still a little doubtful, I can tell

But keep a happy thought and things will dell

Curl up your smile, in just a while, you'll be feelin' good, feelin' good

Time to tell your trouble bye b bye (Alexis and the girls-"whaooo")

They'll float like tiny bubbles to the sky (Alexis and the girls- "whaooo")

And you'll begin to grin and grin

Feelin' good outside and in

You've got so much beauty inside you

Guess you've never been told

But I could see from the start, you've got a heart of solid gold, (Alexis and the girls "whaooo") solid gold (Alexis and the girls whaooo, All "whaooo")

Changin' at a truly awesome clip

I can't imagine why you wouldn't flip

You'll grin with glee

Hayley-(Say oh e gee)

Soon you will see

Hayley-(I'll give a wee)

Take it from me

You're gonna be, feelin' good

Feelin' good, feelin' good

Good as can be,"

Two hours later Hayley was standing behind the curtain, waiting for it to go up, Taniya came up to her and gave her hair a final brush and put her flower back in it, "There, you're as pretty as a princess," she said and grinned.

"Thanks sis, for everything," said Hayley smiling, Larke was going to get a big surprise.

"Attention everyone, I have just received several withdrawals from the contest from Alexis Rhodes, Flo Smith, Mindy Star and Jasmine Brown. The remaining contestants are Hayley Dupree and Larke Tanner," came Crowler's over the speaker.

Hayley was surprised to say the least and turned to the girls who had come up behind her, "Guys, why did you…?"

"We all know that you are the most beautiful girl in the school and you deserve to win especially since Larke attempted to sabotage you, this is between you and her. It would turn out the same way anyway even if we hadn't withdrawn, now go and get her Hayley," said Alexis and the others nodded.

"Aw, gee, you guys," she said, wondering on earth she got to be so lucky in having friends like these girls.

"Not to mention, Bastion is the King and I don't think that he would appreciate Larke being the Queen," came a voice and they turned to see Craig standing there with a grin on his face.

Hayley didn't say anything as she was blushing, wondering what Bastion would look like wearing a crown.

Craig laughed and winked, "Now, when you win try kissing him," and he left wanting to get a good seat.

"I think Craig is playing matchmaker," said Jasmine.

"Thank you Miss Obvious," said Alexis sarcastically.

"Oh, how romantic, Bastion and Hayley, together, you are so lucky Hayley," gushed Mindy and Hayley blushed even harder, while Flo and Taniya looked amused.

Ok girls, let's go, it's almost time for the judging," said Taniya and shooed them out and then gave her sister a thumbs up. Hayley smiled and waited for the curtain to rise.

On the other side Bastion was waiting, feeling nervous and hoping that Hayley would win, Craig had appeared moments before and had suggested that he kiss her when she won, he had glared at him, blushing all the while. Bastion looked very handsome wearing white trousers, white socks and new white shoes. He was wearing a white dress shirt and a red jacket, that had a high gold collar, gold designs on the shoulders, gold cuffs, buttons and a gold sash attached to it. He was also wearing a crown and many girls were drooling over him.

"Alright, now this is really very simple, so simple that even the Slifers can do it," cracked Crowler, who then quailed under Taniya's glare.

"Ummm, all you have to do is clap; the girl who receives the loudest and longest applause is the winner. The clapping will be measured by the two clap-o-meters we've set up in the front of the stage. Ok, now let's begin, first up is Larke Tanner!" announced Crowler.

The curtains came up and everyone got a look at Larke, who was standing in a pose while wearing a black dress. Everyone clapped as she did look pretty, her meter going into the red zone.

"Now for Hayley Dupree," said Crowler and the curtain concealing Hayley rose up and Larke smirked, satisfied that Hayley was going to lose, but she soon lost her smirk as she looked at Hayley in horror, for she was not ugly, if anything, she was even more beautiful than before.

Taniya, using her knowledge of how to get the mud colour off and the dye out of her hair had really made her look gorgeous as her pale skin seemed to shine in the spotlight and her hair, back to ebony black with three pink streaks, was even more wavy than ever and seemed to glow as it sparkled with glitter. She was wearing a simple pink, strapless dress that fell to her feet, pink slippers and a simple pink choker around her neck. Her special flower was in her hair and she wore a bright yet shy smile as she looked at everyone, her wisteria mark visible to everyone.

Bastion felt his heart stop as he looked upon the angel that graced his world, she couldn't be anything else but an angel, she was so out of this world. He didn't see and hear everyone except for Jaden stand up and clap their hardest, making Hayley's clap-o-meter go right down to the other side of it, way past the red zone. He came to when Crowler started speaking.

"This year's Beauty Queen is Hayley Dupree! Congratulations! King Bastion will now give you your crown and then your picture will be taken," announced Crowler who was very relieved that he didn't have to announce that Larke was the winner. Like everyone else, save for Jaden, he didn't like her.

Bastion got up and made his way to the stage, he placed the tiara on her head and then, screwing up his courage and pushing down his nerves, gave his crush a kiss on the cheek, blushing all the while. Hayley blushed too and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Craig gave both of them the thumbs up and grinned, it was a step in the right direction for them. Crowler then asked the royal couple to smile, they did so and he took their picture.

For a while Hayley received congratulations from everyone and Bastion was admired by all the girls and also had to endure private ribbing from Craig about his kiss to Hayley.

"Oh shut up Craig," he said as they finally got away from the crowd, Hayley following close behind.

He laughed and was about to say something when a voice rang out.

"Hayley, you're a cheater," and everyone stopped to see Jaden looking at Hayley with a scowl on his face and his Duel Disk strapped to his arm, which was uncovered and everyone saw the faint outline of the same mark that was on Larke's arm. Flo had to hold Craig back when he saw the mark and Bastion was very close to throttling his former friend.

"I didn't cheat Jaden, Larke is the one who tried to sabotage me and Taniya and the girls helped me get back to normal," said Hayley quietly, Empress growling at Jaden by her feet.

"You're a liar as well as a cheat and I think we should throw down so that I can win Larke her crown back," declared Jaden.

"He's lost his mind," said Bastion in wonder.

"He's most likely been brainwashed by that evil mark. Add in the fact that he's infatuated with Larke and the lies she's been telling him, he's not the Jaden any of us know anymore," said Taniya, putting a hand on Bass' head to prevent him from pouncing on Jaden.

Hayley narrowed her eyes and then spoke clearly, "I don't want to duel you Jaden but you leave me no choice," she was handed her duel disk by Taniya and got ready.

"Get your game on!"

"Let's feel the magic!"

H: 4000

J: 4000

"I'll go first, I play my Field Spell Fusion Gate and now I can fuse to my heart's content and then by sending Avian, Mudballman, Burstinatrix and Sparkman to the grave I'll Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Electrum in attack mode!" said Jaden and the strongest hero in Jaden's entire deck came out (EHE 2900/2600)

"Now I'll call it a turn," said Jaden, "Let's see your weak monsters get past him."

Bastion and the others gasped at Jaden's move.

"This is crazy, Jaden is crazy," said Syrus, realizing that the Jaden he knew was quickly going away.

"There's no way Private Hayley can get through his front line," said Hasselberry.

"She'll find a way," said Bastion, believing she would and Taniya nodded.

Hayley wasn't impressed, "If that's all you've got then you're dumber than I thought, sending out your best monster on the first turn and leaving yourself no monsters in your hand, it's a wonder you manage to win at all and for the record, my monsters are not weak. I'll start my turn with this card, Pot of Greed, now I can draw two more cards and one of them is this one, Mystical Space Typhoon and I'll use it to destroy your Fusion Gate. Next up, I'll play Double Summon and now I can summon two monsters to the field, come on out Wattgoldfish and Wattgiraffe," she said and the two Watt Monsters appeared on the field. (Wg 100/0) (Wg 1200/100)

"Big deal, they're too weak, they'll never get past Electrum," said Jaden confidently. Larke threw him a smile and smirked nastily at Hayley who ignored them both.

"I play my Trap Card, Solar Ray, now I can inflict six hundred points of damage to your Life Points for each face-up Light Attribute Monster on my field, I have two monsters, that makes twelve hundred Life Points," said Hayley.

H: 4000

J: 2800

"Now, I'll activate Wattgiraffe's first effect, he can attack you directly, go!" said Hayley and Jaden was butted by Wattgiraffe.

H: 4000

J: 1600

"Next up is his other effect, when he inflicts Battle Damage to my opponent by a direct attack you can't activate any effects of any of your Spells, Traps or Effect Monsters until the End Phase of this turn," said Hayley calmly, leaving Jaden shocked.

"Now Wattgoldfish will attack your Life Points directly," she said and Wattgoldfish made her move.

H: 4000

J: 1500

"Her effect activates, when she attacks you directly you choose one card from your hand and send it back to your deck, but it looks like you don't have a lot of choice," she said sarcastically as Jaden sent his only card back to his deck. Next I'll play a Trap, Urgent Tuning, I can activate it in my Battle phase and I can Synchro Summon one Synchro Monster and send the appropriate monsters to the graveyard, come on out Wattchimera!" called Hayley and a Chimera appeared on the field, he was a fearsome sight, with his lion's head and snake tail. (Wc 1400/1200)

"I'll equip him with the Spell Card, Wattcube, He now gains one hundred attack points for each Thunder Type Monster in my Graveyard and I count two," Hayley said, (Wc 1600/1200)

"Now Chimera, finish this duel attack his Life Points directly!"

"You can't!" cried Jaden "I still have Electrum on the field!"

"Wrong, I can, Chimera's ability allows him to attack you directly!" retorted Hayley and Jaden lost the rest of his Life Points.

H: 4000

J: 0

"A One Turn Kill," said Bastion in amazement.

"The magic has ended!" said Hayley twirling around only to be caught in a hug by Bastion and the rest of her friends.

"No fair!" cried Jaden and turned to Larke, "Larke, I'm so sorry I didn't win, please forgive me."

Larke was too angry to hear him, Hayley had everything, no matter what she did Hayley always came out on top. Larke was just about to storm off when she had an idea.

"So Hayley have told everyone why you have the Wisteria mark on your cheek? Why your flower never wilts and why I call you 'Little Princess'? Hmmm?"

"Larke," said Hayley with a warning note in her voice.

"Why does she call you Little Princess?" said Chazz.

Hayley was silent and Larke smirked, "It's because…"

"She'll tell you when she's ready, not before then," remarked Taniya and Hayley heaved a big sigh of relief, cast a grateful glance at her sister and left for the Ra Dorm. Taniya walked back to the Slifer Dorm. Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, Atticus, Aster, Sartorious and Sarina went to the Obelisk dorms, Chazz, Craig, and Flo followed Taniya, Hasselberry and Syrus went off to the Ra Dorm and Bastion stared after Hayley, wishing that he could do something for her. Larke left with Jaden, smirking at how she'd shaken Hayley up.

Xxxxx

Please Review


	7. Fighting the Fight

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 7: Fighting the Fight**

"I know, mine's gone too," muttered Atticus.

"Weird, right?" asked Hayley.

"When I find the person who committed this crime, I'm gonna go all dino on them!" yelled Hasselberry.

"What's all the commotion about?" said Bastion, joining the conversation.

"You don't know?" asked Hayley, "Everyone we know has had their Deck taken,"

"What? Even yours?" worried Bastion.

"Yes," replied Hayley, "Why?"

Bastion didn't answer and immediately began trying to figure out who would commit this crime, although Craig and Flo walked out of the Slifer dorm after figuring out what had happened.

"Mine hasn't been taken," replied Craig.

"Nor mine," added Bastion, just realizing this small fact.

"Mine's still in my room, locked up," said Flo.

It soon became apparent that, Flo, Craig and Bastion were one of the few people talking who still had their Decks.

"Oh, they'll be the culprits," said Craig, spotting three people walking towards them, Syrus, Jaden and Larke, each carrying a rucksack, obviously full of the Decks they had stolen overnight.

"Morning," said Craig.

"Anyone up for a duel?" asked Jaden, as the other two laughed.

"Any time you want," replied Craig, pulling out his Deck from his pocket, "Surprised? These two have got their Decks as well,"

"Hey, we couldn't get every Deck overnight," joked Larke.

"What on earth is going on this early?" moaned Alexis, walking outside.

"These three," began Hayley, pointing at Jaden, Larke and Syrus, "Just stole almost everyone's Decks on the island,"

"Who's still got theirs?" questioned Alexis, as Bastion, Craig and Flo raised their hands, "Good, you can have a dueling contest to decide who keeps them then, three one-on-one matches, best of three. Winner keeps the Decks."

"And if we refuse?" asked Jaden.

"I'll just go tell the Chancellor," replied Alexis, giving the three of them no choice.

Xxxxx

"In five minutes, we'll do a draw for this contest, OK?" confirmed Alexis.

"Syrus, this isn't you. You're better than this, so why are you doing it?" asked Craig, sitting down the chair opposite Syrus.

"I'm sticking behind my friend Jaden. If you don't like it, go away," answered Syrus.

Craig, at the answer, shook his head and stood up from the chair he was sitting on opposite Syrus, and walked off again, towards Flo, who was looking through her Deck, checking everything was there.

"Where did you put your Deck?" said Craig, quietly so only him and Flo could hear it.

"I left it in the same drawer it's always in, probably like everyone else did," replied Flo.

"So how come your Deck wasn't taken…"

"Well, don't complain," joked Flo, finishing checking that everything was there.

Xxxxx

The draw had been made from two hats, and most were happy about their fixtures. Flo was to duel Syrus first, Bastion was to duel Jaden second, and Craig was to duel Larke last; a match Craig was certainly looking forward to.

"You got Syrus, apparently he's not a bad duelist," said Craig to Flo.

"You've got Larke, have you actually seen her win yet?" asked Flo.

"Nope… But Jaden, good luck with that; heard he's beaten you before," added Craig jokingly to Bastion, who barely cringed at the prospect of dueling Jaden again

"Normal rules, 4000 Life Points, winner gets a point to their team, first team to 2 points wins the Decks, ready?" explained Alexis, as both duelists nodded.

"Duel!" said the two in unison.

Flo: 4000  
Syrus: 4000

"I'll start!" began Syrus, "I'll play Gyroid in Defense Mode and that'll be all," (G 1000/1000)

"If that's all, it's my turn!" replied back Flo, "And I'll Summon out Skilled Dark Magician, attack Gyroid!" (SDM 1900/1700)

Skilled Dark Magician took some time to prepare an attack, but still blasted a powerful beam towards the blue helicopter, but the vehicle remained standing.

"When Gyroid is attacked, he can survive the attack once per turn," explained Syrus.

"Fine then, I'll play a face-down to finish my turn," ended Flo.

Xxxxx

"Skilled Dark Magician?" wondered Bastion.

"Flo's Deck revolves mainly around summoning the Dark Magician cards, mainly the Dark Magician himself. You should be able to see it this duel," explained Craig.

Xxxxx

Syrus drew his next card, and immediately grew a massive grin.

"Before you start, I activate Pitch-Black Power Stone! This card has 3 Spell Counters on it, of which I can place on any monster I like during my turn," said Flo, as the black pyramid appeared on the field.

"Shame you won't get to use them," said Syrus, "I activate the Power Bond magic card! This fuses together my Gyroid and the Steamroid in my hand to form… Steam Gyroid! "(SG 2200/1600)

The two machines arose into the sky and came together to form the machine that looked like the front of a train.

"And since I fused them using Power Bond, it gets double the Attack Points!" added Syrus, (SG 2200/1600 – 4400/1600)"Now, I'll give it Fusion Weapon, adding another 1500 Points!" (SG 4400/1600 – 5900/1600)

Xxxxx

Steam Gyroid had now grown to a massive size now, towering over the Skilled Dark Magician.

"That's not possible," muttered Craig, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"If he can do that, what do the other two have planned for us?" asked Bastion.

Xxxxx

"Steam Gyroid! Let's go locomotion on that magician!" attacked Syrus, as Steam Gyroid charged towards the skilled magician, and blew it to smithereens, as Flo was knocked to the ground immediately, in pain.

Flo: 0  
Syrus: 4000

Flo recovered slowly from the attack, leaving Syrus with a massive look of glory upon his face.

"And that's one-nil to us!" celebrated Syrus, high-fiving both Larke and Jaden on his way back.

Flo eventually regained a standing position, but fell straight back down, and was caught by Craig.

"Not the best time to have a nap," said Craig jokingly, supporting Flo as they made their way back over to the sides.

"Sorry…" replied Flo weakly.

"It's OK; Bastion'll win this… I hope," Craig said quietly.

xxxxx

"So then Jaden, win this and you take the Decks," reminded Bastion, walking onto the field.

"And I shall win," replied Jaden fiercely, placing his Deck in his Duel Disk and activating it.

Craig walked back onto the field just as Bastion put his Deck into his Duel Disk as well, and turned towards Bastion.

"Bastion, the damage in this battle, somehow, they've made it real. I don't think they just got our Decks, I think they also got our Duel Disks. You don't have to do this," explained Craig, staring back and forth at Jaden and Bastion. 

"And if we don't, no-one gets their Decks back," said Bastion, turning his Duel Disk on.

"Good luck then," said Craig.

Xxxxx

Bastion: 4000  
Jaden: 4000

"My turn first!" began Jaden, drawing with card, "And I Summon out Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode; and I'll also throw down a face-down and activate E – Emergency Call; which allows me to take a Hero from my Deck and put it in my hand; and I'll pick Elemental Hero Sparkman," (EHC 800/2000)

The human-like boulder appeared on the field, and curled itself up into a ball.

"Jaden, I've seen your strategy many times before, and I prepared a Deck just to cancel out yours. So, meet my Hydrogeddon in Attack Mode, and I'll also play one card face-down," replied Bastion, as the hydrogen-filled monster came onto the field. (H 1600/1000)

Xxxxx

"The turning point of this duel will be whether Bastion can stop Jaden's Fusions or not," said Hayley.

"I know a card that can do that, although I'll bet that Jaden has more than one way of Fusion," added Craig.

Xxxxx

"It's over already Bastion," said Jaden cheerfully, "I activate Polymerization, so I'll fuse my…"

"Once again Jaden, you're wrong. Activate face-down, Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell! When I discard a Spell Card, such as the Double Spell, you can no longer use your Polymerization," replied Bastion, as Polymerization disappeared, and the rest of the Polymerizations in Jaden's Deck crackled for a moment.

"You tried this before; I'll just activate Fusion Gate," reminded Jaden.

_'He's right… I'll have to finish this before he gets to activate Fusion Gate…'_ thought Bastion.

Xxxxx

"Yes! You've got him now Private," yelled Hasselberry.

"Don't count your dinosaurs before they hatch, Sarge," replied Craig.

Xxxxx

"Too bad your friends will be so disappointed when you lose, I Summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in Attack Mode, and activate H – Heated Heart, giving her 500 extra Attack Points for this turn! Burstinatrix, attack his Hydrogeddon with Burst Flare!" attacked Jaden, as Burstinatrix jumped into the air and threw two fireballs towards Hydrogeddon, which immediately exploded, and hit Bastion, hurting him more than usual. (EHB 1200/800), (EHB 1200/800 – 1700/800)

Bastion: 3900  
Jaden: 4000

Xxxxx

"Just like I said. They've equipped our Duel Disks with something that makes the pain real…" said Craig.

"Couldn't you just change Duel Disks?" pointed out Alexis.

"Change Duel Disks and you're disqualified!" yelled Larke towards them, laughing with Syrus at Bastion getting hurt.

"Nothing remotely suspicious about that…" said Craig sarcastically.

"Bastion!" called out Hayley worriedly.

Xxxxx

"I activate Pot of Greed, so I draw two cards. I end my turn there then," ended Jaden.

"Back to me again then," said Bastion, drawing, "I Summon Oxygeddon in Attack Mode, and I'll also activate Monster Reborn and then bring back Hydrogeddon, now Oxygeddon, attack his Burstinatrix!" attacked Bastion. (O 1800/800) (H 1600/600)

"Not this time, I activate Hero Barrier, which blocks your attack," replied Jaden, as the gust of wind was reflected by a barrier.

"But this time is a different story, Hydrogeddon, attack his Burstinatrix again!" repeated Bastion, as this time Burstinatrix was smothered in the gas, and disappeared, which also knocked Jaden to the ground in pain.

Bastion: 3900  
Jaden: 3600

"I thought we didn't hook up our Duel Disks," said Jaden to Larke and Syrus.

"Let's just say I sleep with a webcam in my room, I saw what you did on the webcam when I woke up in the night, you left your Duel Disks in your rooms whilst you are stealing, and I just happen to be good with electronics," replied Craig, looking down at the floor with a smirk on his face.

Larke stared down at her Duel Disk as well; worried about the pain she would receive.

"Back to the duel, Jaden?" joked Bastion, after seeing Jaden's angry look towards Craig, "I'll play a face-down to end, and also, because Hydrogeddon destroyed a monster in battle, I get to Summon out another Hydrogeddon in Attack Mode!" (H 1600/600)

"I know what you're going to try and do Bastion, and it won't work, first, I activate R – Righteous Justice; for each Elemental Hero I have out, I can destroy one Spell or Trap card, so adios Cursed Seal!" said Jaden, as Cursed Seal vanished from the field, "Next, I'll activate O – Oversoul, allowing me to bring back Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in Defense Mode!" (EHB 1200/800)

Xxxxx

"Wait a second…" figured Craig.

"He's used H, E, R and O…" realized Hayley as well.

"HERO Flash…" said Alexis doomingly.

"Bastion has to finish this… and fast," added Craig.

Xxxxx

"All I need is one more card Bastion, and then it'll be over… but for now, I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman, in Defense Mode to finish," ended Jaden. (EHS 1600/1400)

"Well then, I'll never let you draw that card Jaden, for my strategy has come together, I activate my face-down card, Magical Thorn! Now, for each card you discard, you lose 500 Life Points, and so I activate Card Destruction, making us discard our hands and draw new cards, so there's four cards in your hands, so you're now 2000 Life Points shorter," said Bastion with a smirk.

Each of the players discarded their hands, and Jaden, was hit four times by a thorn from the ground, and only managed to remain on his feet from the assaults.

Bastion: 3900  
Jaden: 1600

"I'll play a face-down and end there," finished Bastion.

"You'll pay for that!" yelled Jaden in agony, "I Summon out Elemental Hero Avian in Attack Mode, and I'll also switch the rest of my cards into Attack Mode as well!" (EHA 1000/1000)

Xxxxx

"It's over then?" questioned Flo, knowing what must be happening.

"If that face-down is what I think it is, I'm up next," replied Craig, staring at Bastion's face-down.

Xxxxx

"I activate HERO Flash! This allows me to attack you directly with all my monsters! It's over Bastion!" explained Jaden, laughing at the situation, as Sparkman got up first, and prepared a blast towards Bastion.

"You were right about one thing; it's over, I activate Ring of Destruction. It connects with your Sparkman and destroys it, and deals its Attack Points to both of us. It was fun Jaden, but the duel ends here," said Bastion happily, as Sparkman was eliminated into several pieces, both of which hit the duelists, whereas Bastion, using his strength, remained standing and Jaden fell to the ground in agony.

Bastion: 2300  
Jaden: 0

"As you would say Jaden; that's game. And also the final game now, the tiebreaker," said Bastion, turning around and walking back and receiving a big hug from Hayley in the process.

Xxxxx

"So Larke, it's all or nothing for both of us," said Craig, slotting his Deck into his Duel Disk, as Larke did the same.

"Your Magnet Warriors doesn't stand much of a chance," replied Larke.

"Let's just say my Deck isn't fully Magnet Warriors any more…"

Xxxxx

"Craig made some changes by the sounds of things," said Bastion, still joyful over his victory.

"Let's just say he's taken a page out of Hayley's book," replied Flo knowingly.

Xxxxx

"Let's duel!" began both duelists.

Craig: 4000  
Larke: 4000

"Let me begin! I'll summon out Gemini Elf in Attack Mode, and also a card face-down," began Larke, as the pair of elves jumped onto the field. (GE 1900/900)

"And for my turn, I'll activate Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three, and discard two," said Craig.

"You'll need more than anything in your Deck to stand up to what I have in store for you," replied Larke, attempting to intimidate Craig.

"You're an Anarchist; I know what to expect; and now, meet my newest monster; Junk Synchron!" added Craig, as the orange monster appeared. (JS 1300/800)

"A Tuner monster…"

"Exactly, and thanks to his effect, I can Summon a Level 2 monster from my Graveyard, such as one I just discarded, so c'mon out, another new monster, Beta Chick," said Craig, "And now, it's time to give Beta Chick a little Tune-Up, so I'm tuning him to my Beta Chick to perform a little Synchro Summon!" (BC 0/0)

Xxxxx

"I see what you mean Flo, with Craig following Hayley's example, but this is the first time I've seen Craig do a Synchro Summon, so as whether he can use a Synchro Monster to its full potential is another story," explained Bastion.

"Remain calm, Private. The Major's got the enemy retreating as we speak!" replied Hasselberry, looking cheerful at Craig's move.

Hayley smiled, Craig had come to her asking to teach him how to Synchro Summon and she had, she'd even helped him find some of those cards he was using. She was glad to see that they weren't going to waste.

Xxxxx

"What is this? You don't have any Synchro Monsters!" said Larke, wondering what was happening.

"Oh really? Let's see about that. Meet my Synchro Monster, Junk Warrior, let's roll!" yelled Craig. (JW 2300/1300)

"So, you've created a purple warrior, but you'll need more than that to stand any chance," said Larke through gritted teeth, upset that Craig had performed a Synchro Summon, she'd always hated it that Hayley could do it and she couldn't.

"And that's what I have, you see, when Beta Chick is in the Graveyard, it evolves, and is reborn as the original Beta the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode!" added Craig, as the other yellow Magnet appeared, and jumped immediately on Craig, "Please wait a moment until my annoying Duel Monster Spirit gets off me," he said. (BMW 1700/1600)

Xxxxx

"You wanted to see me, Chancellor Sheppard?" asked Taniya.

"Yes Taniya, it's another matter of evil-doers again… this time even more serious then the Shadow Riders… I'll need you to collect the following students…" replied Sheppard, facing towards the window and staring out towards the island.

Xxxxx

"Right, now then…" said Craig, pulling Beta off him.

"Hurry up. Classes are on today," replied Larke.

"Fine then. Junk Warrior, let's take out the trash!" attacked Craig, as Junk Warrior charged towards Gemini Elf.

"Sorry Craig, it's not recycling day. I activate Wall of Revealing Light, now, by giving up 3000 Life Points, you can't attack with any monsters with less than 3000 Attack Points, so I'll do just that!" activated Larke, not being hurt by the effects of the Trap, as she wasn't attacked.

Craig: 4000  
Larke: 1000

Xxxxx

"These junk puns are really beginning to annoy me," said Flo.

"They weren't bad," replied Hayley, smiling slightly.

Xxxxx

"Looks like me and my sign are safe for now!" intimidated Larke, as Craig cringed as the mention of the sign.

"I'll break through," replied Craig, finishing his turn by playing one face-down.

Craig looked crestfallen at the fact that he was just about unable to attack with any monster in his Deck.

"Now then, it's my turn, so, I'll Summon out Winged Kuriboh in Defense Mode!" said Larke, as the small fur ball appeared on the field, "Gemini Elf, attack his Beta the Magnet Warrior!" (WK 300/200)

The two elves separated, and eliminated Beta from both sides, and took down Craig swiftly.

Craig: 3800  
Larke: 1000

"That hurts… a lot," muttered Craig.

"I'll pile the pain more next turn, but I'll leave you hanging with a face-down," replied Larke, smiling at Craig's pain.

"Fine, I'll equip Junk Warrior with Mist Body, meaning he can't be destroyed in battle, and then I'll switch him into Defense Mode," said Craig, as Junk Warrior began to turn to a defensive position.

"No, you won't, activate face-down, Shadow Spell, which forces your monster into Attack Mode and makes him lose 700 Attack Points," replied Larke, as the purple warrior was suffocated by the chains that were keeping him enclosed. (JW 2300/1300 – 1600/1300)

"I end my turn then," said Craig, downfallen.

Xxxxx

"Now he's in trouble," said Jaden, looking happy at the prospect of victory.

"Uh… yeah…" replied Syrus, becoming slightly suspicious at his best friend's actions.

Xxxxx

"My turn Craig!" yelled Larke with joy, "And now, I sacrifice both my Winged Kuriboh and my Gemini Elf, to Summon out Felgrand Dragon!" (FD 2800/2800)

The two monsters on the field fell into the ground, and were replaced by a colossal, gold dragon that let off a tremendous roar, and stared down at Craig and his Junk Warrior.

"Scared? So you should be, Felgrand Dragon, attack his Junk Warrior!" ordered Larke, at Felgrand dragon let off a breath of fire which scorched Junk Warrior, and made Craig fall down to the ground in pain again.

Craig: 2600  
Larke: 1000

"And thanks to Mist Body, I get to attack him again next turn!" said Larke, filled with glee.

"This is it… I have to draw the right card this turn, otherwise, I've just about lost this duel," thought Craig, drawing his card, "Oh great, Alpha the Magnet Warrior; how joyfully helpful."

"Another rubbish draw?" asked Larke.

Xxxxx

"Craig looks like he drew a bad card…" said Flo.

"Come on Major!" yelled Hasselberry eagerly.

Xxxxx

"Hold on… what's that?" wondered Craig to himself, casting his eyes to the corner of his hands.

Larke was becoming impatient, and was now tapping her foot on the ground.

"When you're ready?" said Larke, desperate to continue.

"Well then, if you're so desperate, I'm Summoning out the Tuner Monster, Magnetic Synchron in Attack Mode!" summoned Craig, as white version of the Magnet Warriors, yet smaller, appeared onto the field. (MS 1000/1000)

"Another Tuner?" asked Larke, "Wasn't the last one hopeless enough?"

"You Anarchists will never prevail, and I'm going to show why, Magnetic Synchron, let's give Junk Warrior a Tuning!" yelled Craig, as Magnetic Synchron attached itself to Junk Warrior, and began to dissolve into the Junk Warrior, and began transforming it.

Xxxxx

"But wait, Junk Warrior is a Level 5, and Magnetic Synchron was Level 3, so this is going to be…" began Alexis.

"A Level 8 Synchro Monster, so this should be powerful; extremely powerful," said Bastion, doing the math for Alexis.

Xxxxx

"Magnetic Warrior… let's roll!" continued Craig, as the human-sized white warrior appeared on the field, jolts of electricity coming out of it. (MW – 3000/3000)

"So what? My Wall of Revealing Light is still in play, so your Magnet Warrior won't be able to attack," reminded Larke, pointing to her Trap Card.

"I'm assuming you've never seen Magnetic Warrior, but after this match, you'll definitely remember it, for it gains half of the non-Tuner monster's Attack Points, and Junk Warrior had 1600!" explained Craig, as Magnetic Warrior got slightly bigger. (MW 3000/3000 – 3800/3000)

"But that means…" muttered Larke, falling to her knees.

Xxxxx

"It's over," said Syrus.

"No! We were so close!" yelled Jaden in irritation.

Xxxxx

"You were saying about Craig's use of Synchro Monsters, Bastion?" asked Flo to Bastion jokingly.

"Well, obviously they've worked, and now, you're all going to get your Decks back," replied Bastion, smiling at the emergence of Magnetic Warrior.

Xxxxx

"Take this message back to the Anarchists; Magnetic Warrior, obliterate her Felgrand Dragon and the rest of her Life Points!" attacked Craig, as Magnetic Warrior prepared an attack, and fired a massive jolt of electricity towards Felgrand Dragon, which flew straight flew him, and hit Larke straight on the chest, knocking her down.

Craig: 2600  
Larke: 0

Xxxxx

"Everything there?" checked Bastion with Hayley.

"Yup," confirmed Hayley, after searching through her Deck.

"That's everyone then," added Craig, "I think they forgot the rucksacks when they ran off ASAP."

"Guys, I need some of you to come with me," said Taniya, entering the Slifer area…

"Who?" asked Bastion, who was leaving at the time with the rest of the non-Slifers.

"Can you gather these for me…" replied Taniya, listing a bunch of names. 

Xxxxx

"So, you all managed to show," introduced Chancellor Sheppard, once again facing the window.

"Yes, but we're over here, not outside," replied Craig, making Sheppard turn round.

"It's something I do when I'm fearing the fate of this school," said Sheppard back, "You see, the school has been contacted by a bunch of evil-doers, their leader is called Karādorein, his evil methods are weird, but he seems to wish to remove the colour from the world."

"Right…" muttered Chazz, "Another psychopath, I see."

Sheppard ignored this point, and continued,

"Just like the Shadow Riders were, you'll all get a key, of different colours, and if you were to lose this key in a duel… Well, that colour is drained from the world and is given to a crystal that Karādorein has," explained Sheppard further, opening up a box that was contained on the desk, "Please, pick your colour of key."

Each key was of a different shape, and glowed with the colour that they contained.

"Black," chose Chazz immediately, picking up the black key and putting it over his head.

"I'll take orange," said Taniya, picking up the orange key and staring at it.

"I'll pick green, and I'll defend the cause!" said Hasselberry enthusiastically.

"Blue for me," picked Alexis.

"Purple here," added Flo.

"I'm all for red," picked Craig.

"And I'm pink," chose Hayley.

"And lastly, I'll be yellow," added Bastion.

"Now then, you can only lose these keys in a duel, so be aware. I have a feeling some of these enemies may already be among us…" muttered Sheppard, staring out the window once more.

Suddenly, the TV screen that Sheppard had flicked on by itself, and there stood a man wearing a mask and cloak in the camera's view.

"Karādorein," muttered Sheppard.

"Hello, people of Duel Academy. You eight lucky people must be our competitors, I've picked a good team, I seriously doubt you'll stand much chance, as we've seen you all duel already, within the past two years, so we know all of your strategies," began Karādorein over the screen, as the nine people in the room stared at the man on the screen.

"We'll take you out whenever you wish, you'll be retreating once you see us duel!" yelled Hasselberry.

"You must be the fallen sergeant, the one that would take people out just to entertain himself," replied Karādorein.

"Guys, the cameras above the TV screen, that's how he can hear us," said Alexis.

"And now it's you, the one who only wishes that she could turn one of our Anarchists back to the good side; if only you knew what we've already done to him," added Karādorein, agitating people.

"Why don't you face us, coward!" shouted Chazz towards the camera, as Karādorein simply laughed.

"I don't need to face you. It's not my problem if you are the one who is the lowest in his generation in his family, with his brothers rising above him in wealth…"

"I'd seriously advise you stop this; it's not funny, why don't you show us who you really are?" asked Bastion angrily.

"Oh, I've heard all about you, the one with the brains and yet they didn't do much in helping you make friends," insulted Karādorein.

"I guess your records aren't up to scratch then, Bastion has friends, he has everyone in this room for his friend," replied Hayley.

"Well, your presumptions may be correct, although you remain the one who fears her own talent, who is afraid to unleash it and is too fearful of her own past to tell her friends why she remains to have the Wisteria sign, along with the name of the Little Princess," mocked Karādorein, there was something in his eyes when he looked at her and Hayley shivered in fear and shame, he was right.

"You're silencing us with your knowledge of our pasts; that's meant to be fair?" added Taniya, staring down Karādorein, angry at what he'd said to her sister.

"It's extremely fair, but then again, you are the one who has the evil rival, but it seems you may be seeing your rival sooner than expected," said Karādorein, defending himself.

"Just come on! You're absolutely pathetic, this isn't working," said Flo, not realizing the silence that had been produced from Karadorein's comments.

"Oh, this is the one who saw the burning flames in the eyes of an Anarchist, a major Anarchist who completely obliterated any hope your little boyfriend may have had, and now…" began Karādorein.

"Stop it," ordered Craig, staring up at the camera.

"You can tell me to stop it, although I know that you are the one who…" began Karādorein.

"The one who what? Lost his brother because of some pathetic group who enjoys draining colour?" asked Craig, staring into the face of the camera, silencing Karādorein.

"I have someone I'd like you to meet," replied Karādorein, as a boy around thirteen was dragged into view, "Meet your little brother."

"Karādorein, using my little brother isn't going to work," said Craig, remaining the only one speaking.

"Are you sure you don't want to give him a message?" joked Karādorein, laughing as he said it.

"I've got a message for you and your Anarchists. When you come to Duel Academy, I'll make sure I wipe every single Anarchist out of the sky!" yelled Craig with confidence, "Karādorein – bring it on!"

Craig then picked up the empty box that was used to store the keys, and threw it directly at the camera, shattering the glass, and breaking the connection.

Xxxxx 

Please review


	8. Amazon VS Amazon, Taniya's Rival

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 8: Amazon VS Amazon, Taniya's Rival**

It was Christmas Eve and Taniya sat in her office, subconsciously petting Bass. She was worried about what Karādorein had said about her having an evil rival, _'Could he have meant Etain?' _she wondered. She suddenly stood up, she couldn't stand to be cooped up in her office any longer, she needed to get out and do something.

She walked out of her office in time to hear Hayley start singing,

"_Houses decked with lights glowin' bright on frosty nights_

_With a wreath on every door_

_Drifting through the air is the laughter that we share_

_With our dearest friends once more_

_And that's what I love about Christmas_

_Hard to believe that it's almost here_

_That's what I love about Christmas_

_Have a merry one this year_

_Snowflakes in a swirl_

_Every boy and every girl bundled up in red and green_

_Tinsel on the tree_

_Every year we all agree it's the grandest one we've seen_

_And that's what I love about Christmas_

_Hard to believe that it's almost here_

_That's what I love about Christmas_

_Have a merry, merry one this year_

_The Santa Clause sleigh will be heading our way_

_Down a river on stars he'll fly_

_Donner and Dancer and Dasher and Prancer_

_Will legally pull the sky_

_A thousand bells ringing_

_Their silver songs singing_

_We're joining in for it by_

_The happiest faces_

_The warmest embraces_

_The feeling of joy in sight_

_That's what I love about Christmas_

_Can you believe that it's almost here?_

_That's what I love about Christmas_

_Have a merry one this year_

_Carols in the park_

_Trees will twinkle in the dark_

_Easy smiles and great good cheer_

_Memories all aglow_

_Friends we met so long ago_

_That we still hold near and dear_

_That's what I love about Christmas _

_Every year,"_ her voice rang out loud and clear.

Taniya smiled, wandering through the snow and seeing everyone decorating the island, tinsel over there, wreaths on the door to Obelisk, Bastion and Hayley putting up lights on Ra's roof and a big tree in the middle of the island being decorated by Aster, Flo and Hasselberry. It was wonderful and Taniya thought that this was one of the true meanings of Christmas.

She laughed at the sight of Alexis arguing with Atticus about a surfboard being a great Christmas decoration. She passed by Craig who was looking around and then feeling something in his pocket.

"What are you doing?" she asked, confused about his behavior.

He grinned and pulled out the object in his pocket, it was a sprig of mistletoe, "I'm looking for the perfect place to put it so that I can catch Bastion and Hayley under it, they've been dancing around their feelings for each other for way too long," he said and Taniya laughed, it was true, anyone could see that they were crazy about each other but were too shy to say or do anything.

"Why don't you just keep it in your pocket and wait for the right time and hang it over them yourself," she suggested.

"Good idea, thanks Taniya," said Craig and went on his way and so did Taniya.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile far above, somewhere in the sky was a floating island and on that island was a magnificent palace, it wasn't a normal palace as it was made from pure, colorless diamond. Sitting in the giant throne room was a man, he was tall, well dressed in fine cut, red suit, he had topaz coloured eyes and his teal hair was in a ponytail that reached his mid-back. This was Karādorein, the mastermind behind the Anarchists. He looked at a picture, it showed him a beautiful girl, it was Hayley.

"The most beautiful girl in world," he said softly, stroking the picture. His handsome face turned angry at the thought of her with Bastion. "I will have you, Little Princess, you will be mine and rule by my side for eternity," he said. His Anarchists would take care of Misawa and her sister, yes and then she would be his.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile back down on earth at in the Ra Cafeteria, the girl in question, was drinking hot chocolate with her friends, completely and blissfully unaware of her enemy's thoughts. Hayley laughed at Chazz as he described his duel with the Dark Scorpions from last year.

"You still have them as your cards?" she asked and the black haired boy nodded.

"They're so annoying, along with every other spirit I've got," said Chazz, scowling at the Ojama Brothers who'd popped up.

"Aww, we know you like us Boss," said Yellow.

"Yeah, who else would put up with us?" asked Green and Black nodded.

"Leave me alone, you little pests!" said Chazz batting their transparent forms away and everyone laughing at the sight because whether they could see the spirits or not, it was still funny.

Much later everyone headed back to their dorms, Taniya being one of the last, saying good night to Hayley and Bastion.

"See you tomorrow you two, night," she said.

"Yeah, I can't wait for tomorrow," said Hayley cheerfully, apart from Valentine's Day, Christmas was her favourite holiday.

"Yes, see you tomorrow Taniya," said Bastion and they watched her head off to the Slifer dorm.

"Good night Hayley," said Bastion softly.

"Good night Bastion," she replied and smiling gently, went to her room.

Bastion sighed and wished that he could tell her how he felt, he would one day, he knew it. He went to his room and fell asleep quickly.

It was four in the morning when something happened. A tall and strong looking shadowed figure crept into the Ra Dorm and made their way to Hayley's room. She was sleeping peacefully with Empress down by her feet. Neither of them heard the figure creep up to Hayley's bed or knew that she cast a immobilizing spell on Empress but then Hayley turned and knocked her hand against her alarm clock and it woke her, she was going to go back to sleep she heard a malicious voice,

"Wake up Little Princess," and turned to see a person she knew very well, before she could scream or do anything she was grabbed and a hand placed over her mouth and was teleported away in a flash of dark orange. Empress was freed and let out a small roar of despair before grabbing Hayley's deck and jumping off her bed and running through the dorm, squeezing out of a window and running to Taniya's room at the Slifer Dorm.

Meanwhile Bastion, who was in a deep sleep, was woken up by White Magician Pikeru, he had spoken to her a few times since Hayley had awakened his ability to see and sense spirits, "Hmm, what is it Pikeru," he mumbled, fully ready to go back to sleep.

"Hayley's in danger," she said.

Well, that certainly woke Bastion up, "What!" he yelled and Pikeru nodded.

"Yes she was taken by an Amazon. Empress is waking up Taniya right now," she said.

"Pikeru, go and wake the Ojama Brothers and the Magnet Warriors so that they can wake up Chazz, Craig and Flo, I'll wake up Hasselberry and we'll send messages to Alexis and Atticus," he instructed and she nodded, going to do her job. Bastion finished getting dressed and charged into Hasselberry's room and shook him roughly.

"Wha… what in tarnation is your problem Private?" asked Hasselberry.

"Hayley's been kidnapped," said Bastion.

"Say what? You mean by those Anarchist guys?" he asked grabbing his boots and Bastion nodded grimly.

Meanwhile while this was happening, Chazz, Craig and Flo were woken up and were running to Taniya's room and Craig banged on the door.

"Taniya, wake up, Hayley's been kidnapped, wake up!" but no one answered. Flo opened the door and they saw that she was gone and so were Bass and her deck but Empress was there, with Hayley's deck. As soon as she saw them she raced out and everyone followed. She stopped by the big Christmas tree in the middle of Duel Academy and they saw that the others were there as well. Bastion had made it the recon point and Empress somehow knew they'd be there.

"Guys!" shouted Craig.

Bastion looked at them, "Where's Taniya?"

"She wasn't there and neither was Bass, she took her deck as well," said Chazz.

"Is it true that Hayley's been kidnapped?" asked Flo and Bastion nodded.

"Why?" asked Atticus.

Pharaoh, who had been with them the whole time, opened his mouth and Banner's spirit flew out.

"I can answer that," he said.

"Oooookkkaayyy," said Craig, eyes wide, "Talking balls of light."

"I am the former Headmaster of Slifer; I was the one called Amnael, the last Shadow Rider," he explained.

"Great, now that we've got formalities out of the way, Professor Banner, what's going on and where is Hayley?" demanded Bastion.

"She's been taken by Taniya's rival Etain, the one she told you about, as a way to lure Taniya to her hideout to duel her. She's one of the Anarchists," he explained.

"We've got to save her!" cried Bastion.

"I know the way, follow me," said Banner and drifted off, Bastion didn't even think twice about following him and everyone, after looking at each other followed them with Empress and Pharaoh in tow.

Xxxxx

Taniya raced towards Etain's hideout, she was in her tiger form as it was much faster and she couldn't afford to lose a second. She was gonna kill Etain, no one kidnapped her baby sister, no one. Bass raced alongside her, knowing his mistress needed him.

Xxxxx

Hayley woke up and looked around, gasping in horror at what she saw, she was chained to a wall, high above a grand coliseum, there was no way to get up to her except for some bars that poked out of the wall and it was a long way down.

"So, you're awake, good. You can watch me crush your sister," sneered a voice and Hayley looked down to see Etain looking up at her with a gleeful look on her face. Etain was built like most Amazons but her skin tone was darker than her sisters and her eyes were a cold grey colour and the wind blew at her ginger hair.

"She'll be here soon," she taunted.

"More like, she'll be here right now," came a voice from the entrance and Hayley looked down to see her sister standing there with her hands on her hips and Bass growling ferociously.

"Taniya!" she cried in joy.

"Hang in there sis, I'm gonna get you out," she called up and Hayley nodded.

"Not before you duel me," said Etain and a dark orange duel disk appeared on her arm.

"Fine, what are the stakes?" asked Taniya, strapping on her own duel disk.

"If I win then your Colour Key is mine, and you are trapped in a colour crystal and your sister stays here," said Etain, drawing her cards.

"And if I win?" asked Taniya drawing her own cards.

"Then I will be trapped in the Colour Crystal, the Colour Key will be safe and so will your sister. Not that you will win," she said.

"We'll see about that," said Taniya, ready to take Etain down.

"LET'S DUEL!"

T: 4000

E: 4000

"I'll start and I summon Bird of Roses in attack mode and play a facedown and I end my turn," said Etain. (BR 1800/1500)

"I see you've changed your deck, well guess what, my deck's full of surprises, I summon Amazoness Tiger in attack mode and play a Spell card often used by my sister, Double Summon so I can normal Summon once more this turn and I summon Amazoness Chain Master in attack mode and thanks to my tiger's ability he gains four hundred attack points for each monster on my field with the name Amazoness or Amazon Archers in it and as long as this card remains face up on my field you can't select another monster with Amazoness or Amazon Archer as an attack target," said Taniya. (AT 1100/1500 - 1900/1500) (ACM 1500/1300)

"Alright now…'" began Taniya but Etain had a surprise for her.

"Not so fast, I activate my facedown, a trap known as Curse of Rose, I can only activate it if the attack of my opponent's monster changes and I can inflict damage to you equal to the difference between your monsters new attack points and its original attack points," Etain grinned evilly as she watched Taniya take the damage.

It felt as though she'd been electrocuted and Taniya realized that in these duels the pain would be real.

T: 3200

E: 4000

"It's still my turn and I attack your Bird of Roses with Amazoness Tiger," and the tiger slashed at the monster destroying it. "Now Swords Woman, attack her life points directly!" called Taniya and Etain was slashed at and it was very painful.

T: 3200

E: 2400

"I play a face down and end my turn," said Taniya and just then Bastion came bursting in followed by everyone else excluding Syrus but including Aster, Sartorious, Sarina, Crowler, Jasmine and Mindy. Was the ball of light Banner?

"Taniya!" yelled Bastion, out of breath from running.

"Hey guys, I'm ok and so is Hayley for the most part," said Taniya.

"Where is she?" asked Atticus and Taniya pointed up and everyone followed her and saw Hayley.

"Hayley!" yelled Bastion.

"Bastion!" her heart lifted and knew she'd be ok. Bastion looked around and saw the bars poking out of the wall and knew what he had to do.

"Taniya, defeat her, I'll save Hayley," and he ran over to the first bar, jumping up and grabbing it. He began to swing back and forth, back and forth.

"What's he doing?" asked Etain in confusion. Taniya had an idea of what he was going or trying to do.

Bastion began to swing around and around the bar and finally got enough momentum. He waited for the right moment and then let go, reaching for the next bar and began to repeat the process, this time he was faster.

"He's brilliant, crazy and scary, but brilliant," said Aster, watching his friend in amazement.

"Why that little…," hissed Etain, furious that he'd found a way to reach Hayley.

"Leave him, your fight is with me, now make your move," said Taniya.

"I will, I draw and I play Graceful Charity and which allows me to draw three and cards and discard two, now I'll play my Field Spell, Black Garden. When a monster is normal or special summoned except by the effect of Black Garden I can halve its attack and Special Summon one Rose Token on my opponent's side of the field in attack mode," said Etain.

"Not good," said Taniya.

"It gets even worse, I summon Rose Witch in attack mode," she said. (RW 1600/1000)

"Oh, did you name her after yourself?" asked Taniya with a smirk.

"SHUT UP! Now I'm going to use her to Tribute Summon a monster, called Cruel Angel – Queen of Rose. I can tribute summon this card in face up attack position by Tributing one Plant Type monster, come on out," and the beautiful but deadly monster came out. (CA-QR 2400/1300)

"Quit flattering yourself with naming your cards after you, they deserve better," said Taniya and grinned as Etain turned red, if she kept provoking her she would make mistakes.

"I'm not done, because I normal summoned a monster you get a Rose Token," and it appeared on Taniya's field. (RT 800/800)

"Now I'll play a trap, Rose Flame, each time a Plant type monster is summoned on to your field you take five hundred points of damage and Taniya groaned in pain.

T: 2700

E: 2400

"Now Cruel Angel, destroy Amazoness Tiger!" ordered Etain and Taniya gasped as she lost even more life points.

T: 2200

E: 2400

"I end my turn with a face down," said Etain and then pointed her finger up to Bastion where he was just making the jump to the next bar, so far he'd managed six, this was his seventh. He gasped as a spike came out of the wall, he almost got impaled but managed to dodge it and grabbed the next bar by the skin of his teeth. He'd lost his momentum but at least he was still alive. It felt like he was in a video game, having to rescue the girl while dodging the spikes.

"BASTION!" cried everyone, Hayley literally screaming and her voice echoed in the cave.

"I'm ok, I'm ok," he said, sweating at how close that'd been. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and Taniya who'd watched in horror, not only at Bastion's close shave but also her sisters reaction was determined to bring Etain down.

"You monster," she ground out before drawing her card, "I play Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two more cards, and now I'll use one of them Monster Reborn so now I'll bring back Amazoness Tiger and then I'll summon Amazoness Fighter in attack mode." (AT 1100/1500 - 1900/1500 – 2300/1500) (ACM 1500/1300) (AF 1500/1300)

"Don't forget, when you summon a monster you get a Rose token and that means you lose five hundred life Points," said Etain.

"If your Black Garden was going to be in play," said Taniya.

"What?"

"I play the second card I drew from Pot of Greed, Mystical Space Typhoon, which will now destroy your Garden," said Taniya and since the garden was destroyed Taniya didn't gain a Rose Token.

"Next I'll play this trap, Blast with Chain, by equipping it to Amazoness Tiger he gains five hundred more attack points," said Taniya. (AT 2800/1500)

"Now Tiger…" she was cut off by Etain,

"I play my facedown, Hand Destruction, now we both discard two cards to the grave and draw two new ones,' said Etain and she grinned at the monster she'd drawn. Taniya was going down.

"It's not going to save you, Tiger destroy her Cruel Angel!" ordered Taniya and Etain's angel lost its wings.

T: 2200

E: 2000

"Now Amazon Fighter, attack her life points directly!" ordered Taniya but Etain used a card in her hand Negate Attack and now Taniya couldn't attack anymore. "I end my turn," said Taniya.

"It'll be your last because I have a card that will destroy you, I remove three of my monsters from play so that I can Special Summon Dark Orange Chimera in attack mode!" and a huge, evil looking, dark orange chimera appeared on the field (DOC 3000/2300)

"Three Thousand Attack points!" cried Taniya and Etain smiled nastily.

"That's right and he prevents all monsters with less than three thousand attack points from attacking however he has a condition to keep him on the field, as long as I have at least on monster on the field or in my hand he stays. If not then he goes to the graveyard. Now, I'll play Shrink on your Tiger, this cuts its attack points in half. (AT 2800/1500 - 1400/1500)

"Chimera, destroy her Amazoness Tiger!" and the chimera let loose a blast that made Taniya shriek as she felt the pain of losing her monster.

"TANIYA!" screamed everyone, the loudest being Hayley. Bastion finally reached her platform.

"Don't worry Hayley, Taniya's tough she'll find a way, but let's focus on getting you out of these," said Bastion and he began to pull at the chains holding her, trying to get them off.

T: 600

E: 2000

"I end my turn," said Etain, smiling, she was finally going to beat her rival.

"I've got to keep on trying," said Taniya and she stood up, having fallen to her knees from the attack. "I won't give up, I won't give up, I WON'T!" she shouted and as soon as she placed her hand on her deck to draw her card, her Orange Key glowed and she was someplace else.

She was standing at the entrance to a temple that was full of colours, the key around her neck pulled her forward and she let it, entering the temple and into a room where eight tablets stood, all of them were a colour of the chosen duelists Colour Key. Taniya went over to the orange tablet and saw that it was a tiger and in the tigers' claw was a keyhole. Taking the hint, Taniya inserted her Colour Key into it. It glowed and a tiger seemed to roar. The next thing he knew she was back in the real world and knew that it wasn't a dream. She drew her card and smiled, this would turn things around.

"You're not the only one with a special card Etain, meet my new monster, by sending three monsters with Amazon in their names from my hand, deck or field," and she looked through her deck and sent three monsters from it to her grave. "I can special summon Orange Amazoness Pet Tiger in attack mode!" and a huge tiger radiating light and the colour orange came forth and roared, making the chimera tremble. (OAPT 3000/2300)

"He's not affected by spells, traps or monster effects and for every monster with Amazon or Amazoness in its name in my grave he gains two hundred extra attack points, let me see, there's the three I put there just now, the one you just destroyed and the two I sent to the grave because of Hand Destruction, six monsters," grinned Taniya. (OAPT 3000/2300 – 4200/2300)

"Alright, Pet Tiger destroy that overgrown abomination," said Taniya and he pounced, ripping it to pixels.

T: 600

E: 800

"NO!" Etain screamed.

"It's over for you now Etain, Amazoness Fighter, attack her life Points directly!" said Taniya and everyone cheered as Etain was defeated.

T: 600

E: 0

"Taniya!" cried Hayley, Bastion had gotten her free and had found some hidden steps to go down on. She hugged her sister and Taniya held her close.

"Yeah, one down and seven to go!" cheered Flo and Craig.

Just then Etain screamed as a clear crystal came in front of her and she was drawn into it. There she was, just an image in a crystal, it then flew up into the sky and disappeared.

"Is that what will happen to us if we lose?" asked Flo and Taniya nodded.

"Let's not talk about it now, it's time to celebrate, there's one less threat in the world and it's Christmas, so let's go home," said Taniya and everyone smiled and nodded. It was a bit of a walk back but no one minded and Taniya began to sing,

"_Here now the magic of Christmas_

_Is filling our hearts with light_

_Strange how the magic of Christmas_

_Can make our world glow so bright_

_There are wondrous places to roam_

_But now at last, we're going home_

_We've dreamed of it sweetly_

_Still believing, so completely_

_That the best dreams always come true_

_And we'll wish you the magic of Christmas_

_A gift of great joy in store_

_Here's to the magic of Christmas_

_It's all we've been longing for_

_Magic forever and ever (Hayley)_

_Magic forever and ever (everyone)_

_Magic forever and ever" (everyone)_

They were soon home and by that time it was morning. They went to their dorms for breakfast and to open presents. Hayley got a gorgeous Unicorn pendant from Bastion and asked if he would put it on for her. He did so. She gave him a book on birds and different winds and hinted that it would come in handy.

Everyone got what they wanted and went out into the snow. A song began, sung by Taniya,

"_Rainbow coloured lights glowing_

_Bright on snowy nights and a bow on every door_

_Dancing through the air is the laughter that we share_

_With our duel spirits once more_

_And that's what I love about Christmas_

_Hard to believe that it's almost here_

_That's what I love about Christmas (all)_

_Have a merry one this year (all)_

_Coconuty snow everyone that I know_

_Bundled up in pink and green_

_Gumdrops on the tree_

_Every year we all agree it's the sweetest one we've seen_

_And that's what I love about Christmas_

_Hard to believe that it's almost here_

_That's what I love about Christmas (all)_

_Have a merry, merry time this year (all)_

_Our Atticus is twirling_

_Our Alexis is whirling_

_The party has just begun_

_With Hayley singing_

_And jingle bells ringing_

_Hasselberry joins in the fun_

_We're dancing away in our favourite café_

_Jasmine and Mindy too_

_Our voices raised higher_

_Than stars up in the sky_

_As we celebrate a dream come true_

_That's what I love about Christmas_

_Can you believe that it's finally here?_

_That's what I love about Christmas_

_It's a merry one this year_

_Stocking's full of treats_

_Carols drifting downs the streets_

_Easy smiles and great good cheer_

_Duel Academy's aglow and it's wonderful to know_

_That our dearest friends are here_

_That's what I love about Christmas (all)_

_Have a very merry Christmas this year (all)"_

"Gotcha!" cried Craig as he hung from a tree above Bastion and Hayley holding something.

"What?" they asked in confusion.

"Merry Christmas," he sang out and everyone laughed as they realized what he was holding, it was mistletoe.

The two Ra's blushed bright red but didn't protest. Bastion pulled Hayley towards him and gently kissed her, she put her arms around his neck and kissed back, their first kiss and it was truly magical. Everyone cheered and they parted.

"Merry Christmas Hayley," said Bastion.

"Merry Christmas Bastion," she replied and rested her head on his chest with his arms wrapped around her.

Taniya smiled, they were one step closer to telling each other their feelings and she couldn't be happier for them.

"This is the true meaning of Christmas, love," she muttered. It had turned out to be a wonderful Christmas for all of them.

Xxxxx

Please review


	9. Am I MY Brother's Keeper?

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 9: Am I MY Brother's Keeper?**

It was now January and Christmas had passed, the New Year had passed; and there had been no glimpse of an Anarchist since Etain, even Larke and Jaden had disappeared. In the passing weeks, Hayley had continued her relationship with Bastion, to Craig's enjoyment, even though they still hadn't admitted their feelings to each other, they grew stronger with each day and after Craig had endured private ribbing about his past loss to Flo; he had jokingly challenged her to a duel for fun; after having no 'evil-doers' to duel in ages.

Xxxxx

Craig: 100  
Flo: 3000

"Dark Magician, attack his Junk Warrior with Dark Magic Attack!" attacked Flo, as Dark Magician powered up a blast, and fired it straight towards the purple warrior. (DM 2500/2100) (JW 2300/1300)

"Not this time, I activate Negate Attack; blocking your Attack and automatically ending your Battle Phase," activated Craig, as the attack vanished into a portal that had appeared.

"Fine, I'll switch my Dark Magician Girl into Defense Mode, as a precaution," finished Flo. (DMG 2000/1600)

Xxxxx

"What are the chances that the slacker has of winning…" moaned Chazz.

"Very low, unless Craig pulls out a game winner, Flo will take him out," replied Bastion, with his arm around Hayley's shoulder and her head on his.

Xxxxx

Craig drew his card, and immediately smiled.

"I Summon out, the Tuner Monster, Nitro Synchron, in case you didn't already get the idea, Nitro Synchron is going to give Junk Warrior a Tune-Up!" said Craig, as Junk Warrior was engulfed in the green light that the Synchro created. (NS 300/100)

Xxxxx

"Game winner," said Bastion.

"Oh yeah," added Hayley.

Xxxxx

"Nitro Warrior, let's lock and load!" said Craig, as the green monster flew down from the sky, "And also I activate Pot of Greed, you know what that does, and because I just activated a Spell Card, Nitro Warrior gains 1000 Attack Points for this turn only." (NW 2800/1800) (NW 2800/1800 – 3800/1800)

Craig drew his two cards, and Nitro Warrior got gradually bigger, as the green machine stared down at the two magicians.

"Nitro Warrior, attack Dark Magician!" attacked Craig, as Nitro Warrior fired two rockets towards Dark Magician, making Flo cover her face with her arms.

Craig: 100  
Flo: 1700

"And if you have a Defense Position Monster, I can switch it into Attack Mode, and attack again! So, Dark Magician Girl, switch into Attack Mode, and Nitro Warrior, destroy Dark Magician Girl!" added Craig, as Dark Magician Girl switched into an attacking position just as she got blasted away by the force of Nitro Warrior's attack.

Craig: 100  
Flo: 0

Craig immediately walked over to Flo upon his victory, who was kneeling down on one knee, with her head staring at the ground.

"Hey; c'mon, you played a great match, and after all, it was only a match for fun," said Craig, offering a hand down to Flo.

Xxxxx

After the match, Craig and Bastion had persuaded everyone for a night-out camping in the woods, for a reason which they hadn't explained. Everyone was currently gathered around a fire, which was burning pinecones which made a lovely smell.

"So, why are we out here again?" complained Chazz, cold.

Bastion replied, "We thought that it would be a good idea; we haven't seen an Anarchist in three weeks, so they should send over another one soon; and so we thought it would be good to have a plan," and he offered Hayley his marshmallow and she offered him hers.

"In Taniya's duel, her opponent also had an orange key; so we're guessing that your Anarchist has the same colour key as you," added Craig, looking at his red key.

"Where is Taniya?" asked Hayley.

"Inviting a teacher to come along on our rule-breaking camping trip?" answered Craig jokingly.

Xxxxx

"These children are smarter then they look…" muttered Karādorein.

"Should we… send in the White?" asked a figure behind Karādorein.

"The White? Oh yes… yes, that will be a good idea, we can rot their Red's mind and then, send in our Red to take him out…" planned Karādorein, as the figure left, and disappeared, grabbing hold of someone as they teleported away.

'_Hayley, one day soon you will be mine,'_he thought.

Xxxxx

"How did Taniya get that Orange Amazon card anyway…" wondered Alexis.

"I'm assuming we get our own in a duel with an Anarchist…" guessed Flo.

Suddenly, the fire they were holding turned to a white colour, and the fire grew to a colossal size, and split out into a line of fire where the campers were, separating Craig onto one side of the fire; and the remainder of the group onto the other side.

"Craig!" yelled Flo, just about to attempt to move through the fire.

"Just stay there…" replied Craig, touching the fire, and immediately withdrawing his hand, "Yup, just stay there."

At that moment, two figures appeared from a distance behind Craig, and stared directly at him as he swiveled round. Larke was the first to enter the scene.

"I see you enjoy our little trick," said Larke.

"Yeah, not bad actually, but why white?" asked Craig.

Suddenly, a flash of a white symbol within the woods, which Craig instantly recognized as an Anarchist sign.

"Meet your opponent," said Larke evilly, laughing at what was about to happen.

The person that walked into view left Craig speechless, whereas most other people wondered who this person was.

"This is an Anarchist? He's what, twelve?" wondered Chazz.

"Thirteen, actually. You obviously forgot the conversation we had with Karādorein; that's Craig's little brother," replied Flo, recognizing him from before.

"But if he's an Anarchist…" muttered Bastion.

"He's not an Anarchist, and his name is James, not 'he'," said Craig, aggravated at what was happening.

James looked like a carbon copy of Craig, only younger. The scruffy, dirty blonde hair matched almost perfectly.

"He's got the sign, that probably means he's an Anarchist," Hayley pointed out.

Suddenly, the white fire rose again, and changed from a long line into a circle; with Craig, Larke and James inside.

"He's not an Anarchist; mainly because he hasn't got a key round his neck, and his sign is white; the fire is white, he's the white Anarchist, and since none of us have a white key, he's probably a drone used by them," explained Craig.

"Someone's done their background research," said James, in two voices, his normal voice, and one that sounded like someone else.

"Who's the other voice…" asked Bastion quietly.

"Looks like I'm seeing both my brothers tonight," added Craig; turning his head over his shoulder at the rest of the group, smiling, despite the situation, "That's my older brother, Ryan."

"Not just seeing, you'll be dueling us both as well," challenged James.

A black Duel Disk with a white outline appeared on James' hand, and he immediately activated it and slotted a Deck inside.

"And what are the circumstances?" asked Craig.

At the finish of Craig's words, the circle of white fire rose right into the sky, and remained there, which left Craig staring into the sky, before he said, "Yeah… I see, if I don't duel, I'll assume you'll do something with the flames; and how do you do that anyway? One superpower I'd like to have," Craig clicked his tongue at the final sentence with the superpowers.

"It's an Anarchist secret," replied Larke, arms folded, impatient for the duel.

"Not so desperate then," he cracked.

"We'll just have to take you out then! Put up your Deck!" yelled James in anger.

Xxxxx

"What on Earth is that?" said Sheppard, staring out of the window at the massive circle of fire erupting from the forest.

"Chancellor! What is that!" yelled Crowler, running into the room and jumping under the desk, frightened.

Xxxxx

"Looks like I haven't got a choice…" murmured Craig, placing his Deck into the Duel Disk, and looked down at his key, which was glowing at the duel, "What happens if I were to win or lose?"

"If you win, you can have our little pawn back; but if you lose, your colour key is ours!" answered James, his older brother's voice dominating over his own.

At this point, Larke disappeared from the inside of the circle, and re-appeared on the outside again.

"Teleportation; another Anarchist superpower," stated Larke, as she and everyone else remained visible through the transparent white flame.

"Let's duel!" said James, as Craig remained silent as he activated his Duel Disk.

Craig: 4000  
James: 4000

"My turn first! I Summon out Vairon Soldier in Attack Mode, and also, I'll activate Exchange, which lets us take a card from each other's hand," said James, as we walked past his warrior and over to Craig, who flicked his hand round on James' approach, "Junk Synchron? I'll take that then, I might need a Tuner monster…"(VS 1700/1000)

Junk Synchron was withdrawn from Craig's hand, and James turned his hand round, and Craig took Vairon Material from James.

"I'll also play one card face-down to finish my turn," finished James.

Xxxxx

"That's one of the Major's Synchros out of the battle," said Hasselberry.

"Craig'll find a way, I know he will… I hope he will…" replied Flo, attempting to have confidence.

Xxxxx

"My turn!" said Craig, drawing, "And I Summon Delta the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode and that'll be all," (DMW 1400/1500)

"Well then, if that's all you can do; taking your Key will be easy! Anyway, it's time to come face-to-face with your own card; I Summon out Junk Synchron!" said James, as Craig's orange monster appeared, yet looked slightly more evil then before, "Vairon Soldier, attack his Delta the Magnet Warrior." (JS 1300/800)

The soldier flew over to the Magnet Warrior, and ripped it into two, leaving the two halves on the floor.

"When Delta is destroyed, it brings out two Magnet Tokens in Defense Mode," said Craig, watching as the two smaller blue monsters appeared. (MT 1000/1000)

"Junk Synchron, take out one of those Tokens!" attacked James, as the small, orange machine took out the Magnet Token.

Xxxxx

"Why didn't he Tune Junk Synchron… he said he needed a Tuner," said Bastion, stating what most were thinking.

"I have a bad feeling we're about to find out…" replied Hayley, being a Tuner expert. She knew what he was going to do, she'd done it herself hundreds of times.

Xxxxx

"And now, I activate Urgent Tuning; which allows me to Synchro Summon in my Battle Phase. So Junk Synchron's going to give Vairon Soldier a little Tune-Up!" activated James, as Junk Synchron jumped onto the back of Vairon Soldier, and pulled the cords on his back; as the two began to transform, "Vairon Delta, rest yourself in Defense Mode," said James and Hayley sighed, yup, she'd been right. (VD 1700/2800)

Xxxxx

"Why defend when they're clearly on the attack?" asked Hasselberry.

"They obviously are desperate not to lose this round; so they're probably sitting back on defense until they draw a Dark creature, possibly," replied Flo.

"Also, they both have cards named Delta…" realized Alexis, "Coincidence?"

"Not really," said Flo, knowledgeable of the reason behind each of the brother's Deck, "Craig and James used to tag duel with each other when they were younger. James used to look up to Craig, and built his Deck relative to some of Craig's cards, and they made a good team."

Xxxxx

"If that's all, it's my turn…" began Craig, "I'll Summon Epsilon the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode, and due to his effect, when he's Summoned, I get to add a Spell Card to my hand from my Graveyard, and I'll pick Magnetic Fusion," Craig withdrew the Spell Card from his Deck, and placed it into his hand, "Just a question Ryan, why are you doing this?" (MW 1700/1200)

Craig put his hands down by his side and stared meaningfully at the figure opposite him.

"Why? I've been seeking vengeance ever since you and James betrayed me when four years ago! And now I have it!" yelled Ryan, dominating over James.

"We didn't betray you… You took your ideas too far; and once you'd lost, you handed yourself over to the Anarchists," replied Craig quietly.

"Didn't betray me? You two dueled me into submission!"

"We had no choice; you were taking it too seriously," argued Craig.

Xxxxx

"What happened?" asked Bastion to Flo.

"I actually have no idea; Craig came back from a three-week duel camp one summer and told us Ryan wasn't coming back," replied Flo, just as confused as everyone else.

Xxxxx

"If you don't remember, perhaps I should remind you, it was four years ago, during a summer break, and Dad had sent us all to a three-week duel camp," began James, only Ryan's voice speaking "The first week there, it was decided who was a weak duelist, and who was a great duelist, to survive, you seriously needed someone to help you out, not many had someone else, but us three, we pretty much took the place apart," said Ryan.

Xxxxx

_"Valkyrion! Take out his Life Points!" attacked Craig._

"Vairon Vanguard! Do the same!" repeated James, facing another duelist.

"Naturia Exterio, finish this!" ended Ryan, finishing the final opponent.

Xxxxx

"We'd taken control by the second week," added Craig, "In the second week however, Ryan got us control of the entire camp, by taking out the leaders, just so happens one of them was Karādorein; looking for some more Anarchists. Ryan defeated him when Karādorein used a weaker Deck," he explained.

"And then, you wouldn't let me get us to achieve our dream," came Ryan's angered voice.

"It wasn't our dream. You wanted us to attempt to become pro duelists, and we said nothing with the matter. You began dueling people with an ante rule, lose and you got their rarest card. A collection of people's cards was building up; and Ryan told us this was for our 'Decks for when we're Pro'."

"The way we were dueling, we would've been the first brothers in the pro leagues!"

Craig continued to stare at the ground, raising his head at moments.

"When James and I found these cards, we immediately challenged Ryan to a duel; if he lost, and all of the stolen cards go back to everyone, and if he won, he got our Decks," he said.

Xxxxx

_Craig/James: 700  
Ryan: 3700_

"Face it! Next turn, my Naturia Exterio will take you both out, and you'll regret ever challenging me!" said Ryan. (NE 2800/2400)

"Craig; it's surely impossible to win, maybe we should just surrender," muttered James, out of confidence.

"James. A duel is never over until the last card is played. Draw your card!" replied Craig cheerily, looking at the downfallen James, smiling, as James drew.

"Excellent…" said James.

"Is it good?" asked Craig.

"If good is, it's going to win us this duel, then yes. I activate Riryoku, taking half of Naturia Exterio, and transferring them to Vairon Soldier, Vairon Soldier, take out his Exterio!" attacked James, as Naturia Exterio was eliminated by the overgrown soldier. (NE 2800/2400 – 1400/2400) (VS 1700/1000 – 3100/2400),

Craig/James: 700  
Ryan: 2000

_"No! What is this I don't even-" began Ryan, but was knocked to the ground from the blow of the attack._

"Leave the rest to me!" continued Craig, "I activate Magnetic Fusion, fusing together Alpha, Beta and Gamma together from the Graveyard to form Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, let's roll!" (VMW 3500/3850)

"Let's roll?" asked James, wanting to know why he had said it, "Please don't use that again,"

"I think it could turn into a good ol' catchphrase of mine. But anyway, Valkyrion, take him out!" ordered Craig, as Valkyrion took down Ryan, as all the stolen cards he had taken flew out of his pocket, and were immediately claimed by the duelists who they had been stolen from, and Craig and James high-fived each other, walking away and laughing with each other.

Craig/James: 700  
Ryan: 0

Xxxxx

"We never saw Ryan again after that, until he took James with him," said Craig.

Xxxxx

_"Helios Duo Megistus! Finish him!" yelled Ryan in glory, as Craig immediately fell down from the attack, defeated; as Ryan and James both disappeared, James yelling to let go, until Ryan teleported away from the area._

Xxxxx

"I completely embarrassed you!" yelled Ryan, still holding the glory.

"Back to the duel, I think. I end my turn with a face-down," ended Craig, getting back quickly.

Craig: 4000  
James: 4000

James drew his card from his Duel Disk, and Ryan's laughter immediately began laughing over everyone else.

"I activate De-Synchro! This turns my Vairon Delta back into Vairon Solder and Junk Synchron! And also, I summon out another Level 3 Tuner Monster, Vairon Cube. Also, my new monster needs 2 Tuners and 1 Non-Tuner monster, I have all of those. So meet my new monster…" said Ryan, as Delta deformed and the two new monsters jumped into the light tunnel with the cube. (VC 800/800)

Xxxxx

"The Vairon cards… I thought I'd heard of them somewhere. The Synchro monsters for this Archetype were brought in a few weeks back," remembered Bastion, suddenly clicking his fingers at his remembrance.

"Really? Have you got any idea what we're about to see?" asked Alexis worriedly.

"Unfortunately so. Craig's got his work cut out for him," replied Bastion.

Xxxxx

"Your brother resembled his Deck around yours; now see how it feels to be left by your siblings… Vairon Omega, let's annihilate!" yelled James, as the gigantic, yellow, winged machine appeared from the light, towering over Craig and his remaining Magnet Token, "Vairon Omega, take out his final Magnet Token with Vairon Blast!" (VO 3200/1900)

The Vairon whipped out a sword from behind him, and flew over swiftly to Craig's field, and took down his Magnet Token, and Craig.

"I'll finish with a face-down," ended James, extremely cheerful with the consequences so far.

"I'm not finished yet, I activate Double Summon, allowing me to Summon two monsters this turn, so I'll bring out Beta, and Gamma the Magnet Warriors; both in Defense Mode, which is all I can do," said Craig, crestfallen. (BMW 1700/1600) (GMW 1500/1800)

"Oh well then, this will be easier than I thought; and once I've defeated you, we can come after your little girlfriend as well!" shouted James.

xxxxx

"You'll have to get through me first, Private," said Hasselberry.

"Don't you worry, 'Sergeant', we've got someone incredibly special lined up for you," replied James, "But anyway, Vairon Omega, obliterate his Gamma the Magnet Warrior!"

Repeated consequences of what happened with the Magnet Token happened again with the red, stocky warrior, knocking Craig into the ground again.

"Anything else?" asked James.

"I'll pass," ended Craig shamefully.

"Good… Vairon Omega, same again!" attacked James, as Beta was now destroyed in an array of electricity.

Xxxxx

"This is it…" thought Craig, "I've got nothing in my hand, if I don't draw something now, I'm just about finished,"

Craig drew his card, and stared at it thankfully.

"I'll Summon out Zeta the Magnet Warrior, and when he's Summoned, and he's my only monster, for 500 Life Points, I can Summon out Omicron the Magnet Warrior as well, and I'll activate Magnet Conjunction as well… for every 1000 Life Points I give up, I can Summon out another Magnet Warrior, so for 2000, I'm bringing back Delta and Epsilon, and due to Zeta's effect, I can bring Dark Factory of Mass Production to my hand," said Craig, as he withdrew the Spell Card, and four Magnet Warrior stood in front of him, "And before the rest of this move happens, I'm laying down a face-down." (ZMW 1000/1000) (OMW 1000/1000) (DMW 1400/1500) (EMW 1700/1200)

Craig: 1500  
James: 4000

"So, you've got four monsters now, and I've got four turns to destroy them all in. Hold on, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta and Omicron? Wait!" figured James.

"It's too late now. All four of my Magnet Warriors, fuse together to show these Anarchists what a true Omega is all about… Ryan, I give to you… Omega, the Ultimate Magnet Warrior!" fused Craig, as the navy blue human-sized magnet warrior appeared from the four creatures that were originally there, "Omega, take out his Vairon Omega with Magnetic Shockwave!" (OUMW 4100/3700)

Omega prepared a blast from electricity in his hands, and then fired it straight towards the yellow Omega.

"Wrong. Activate Negate Attack!" activated James, as the attack was absorbed into a portal, "Better luck next time,"

"But, I'll also be activating Magnetic Repair, giving me 500 Life Points for each Magnet Warrior, and there's six in there, giving me an extra 3000 Points," retaliated Craig.

Craig: 4500  
James: 4000

"If you're finished; I draw," began James, drawing his card, before staring at it evilly, "Be prepared to enter a world of pain, by giving up half my Life Points and sacrificing a Level 7 or higher Monster, I can inflict a whole new world of pain upon you!"

Craig: 4500  
James: 2000

Xxxxx

"Is this what I think it is…?" muttered Hayley towards Bastion, as James's power was absorbed and Vairon Omega was sacrificed.

"I have a bad feeling it is. They've given James a Dark creature," replied Bastion fearfully.

Xxxxx

"Chancellor, please tell my kids I love them…" cried Crowler, still under the table.

"Crowler, you don't have any kids," said Taniya, making an entrance into the office, "I felt it was quicker to come straight to the Duel Tower rather than venture into the woods. I saw the flames by the way; and if this is an Anarchist duel, then I'm presuming we're about to see something far greater than most things…" she trailed off.

Xxxxx

"When the destruction begins, and the circle closes in; the darkness widens and reveals… a world without light!" shouted James cheerfully, as the circle of fire closed in, and disappeared as something mighty took its place.

"What is that thing…" said Craig to himself, backing up slightly.

"Meet your maker; Dark White Titan!" summoned James, as the colossal titan appeared on the field, towering up over the trees in the woods, the titan was mainly black with white lines around it, much like James' Duel Disk, and the circle of fire grew back to its original size. (DWT 2800/2800)

Xxxxx

"There it is; the Dark creature," said Taniya.

"What's the damage that it can do…" asked Sheppard.

"Bad and a lot," replied Taniya.

Xxxxx

"I also activate a card you both have; Riryoku! This take half your monster's Attack Points and adds them to my monster's for the duration of the turn," explained Ryan, as Omega's power was absorbed by the colossal mythical beast, "Dark White Titan, attack his Magnet Warrior!" (OUMW 4100/3700 – 2050/3700) (DWT 2800/2800 – 4850/2800)

The titan pummeled his hand down on the miniscule Magnet Warrior, and crushed it and Craig below it. The hand was raised, and Craig was on all fours, staring into the ground in pain, before falling down to the ground.

Craig: 1700  
James: 2000

"This is your last turn! Next turn, my Dark White Titan will finish you!" told James.

Craig slowly regained a standing posture, and was just able hold it, as he drew his card, facing it away from himself.

"Come on…" thought Craig to himself

"Come on Craig…" muttered Flo, crossing her fingers.

Xxxxx

"Oh for God's sake, when I need a decent card; I always draw Alpha the Magnet Warrior…" moaned Craig, staring at the card in agony, "Wait…"

Suddenly, a moment in Craig's head clicked, from five years ago, when he and his brothers dueled for fun.

Xxxxx

_"Why'd you surrender?" asked Ryan peacefully. Ryan was eleven, Craig was nine and James was extremely small at seven._

"Look at that," replied Craig, showing Ryan his hand.

"Man, you could've easily beaten me, look…" pointed out Ryan, explaining it to Craig one step at a time.

Xxxxxx

"Ryan… you showed me this years ago; and now, I'm going to hit you my hardest with it!" began Craig.

"Wait, what?" replied James, taken aback.

"This gets confusing, so pay attention," began Craig, "I activate Dark Factory of Mass Production; bringing back two Normal Monsters to my hand, and I choose Beta and Gamma," said Craig.

"Those cards are completely worthless; my Dark White Titan can't be destroyed by battle, so nothing can destroy it!"

Xxxxx

"Oh, that's an idea; bring up its effect just as Craig may have found a way to eliminate it," said Bastion sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Bastion, you forget, although it's invincible, James'… or Ryan's Life Points aren't," reminded Hayley, turning to Bastion.

xXxxxx

"From my hand, I fuse together Alpha, Beta and Gamma the Magnet Warriors, to Summon out Valkyrion the Magna Warrior(3500/3850)!" added Craig, holding the three cards into the air, as each of them appeared onto the field, then disconnected, and connected together into a different shape, "Here's revenge for my Omega. Valkyrion, attack his Dark White Titan!"

Although Valkyrion was stronger, the Titan stood on the field, with a large slash across its chest.

"I told you; it's invincible," reminded James, shrugging his shoulders, but unknowing, he was taken into the ground by the Magna Warrior, and cringed from the attack, holding his stomach.

Craig: 1700  
James: 1300

It was James' this time that remained on the ground for a moment, but also eventually regained his original position.

"If that's all…" began James.

"But it's not all; I now split my Valkyrion back into its original components, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, and I'm about to finish this, activate Brave Attack!" explained Craig, as the Magna Warrior recycled itself back into its three separate monsters. (AMW 1400/1700) (BMW 1700/1600) (GMW 1500/1800)

Xxxxx

"Craig doesn't have Brave Attack…" said Flo.

"Well if he's using it he obviously does have it," said Chazz being his usual self and Alexis gave him a smack on the head.

Xxxxx

"Flo's half right, I don't normally use Brave Attack, but for this duel, I thought it'd be necessary," said Craig, "You see, James gave this card to me the day before you took him."

Xxxxx

_"Hey, little bro, whatcha need?" asked Craig._

"I just wanted to give you something; a thanks for helping me out all those years," replied James, laughing as he took out Brave Attack from his pocket.

"James, you love this card, are you sure?"

"Totally!"

Xxxxx

"If you don't know how it works; here it goes. I destroy all my monsters except one, and that monster gains all the destroyed monsters Attack Points, so goodbye to Alpha and Gamma, and hello, extremely powerful Beta," said Craig, as the power of Alpha and Gamma was taken and blasted into Beta. (BMW 1700/1600 – 4600/1600)

"Wait… Let's talk about this?" asked James pleadingly.

"Maybe another time; Beta, take out his Dark White Titan!" attacked Craig, raising his arm towards the beast, as Beta jumped up, and took out the titan, and took James into the ground, leaving him laying there.

Craig: 1700  
James: 0

James lay on the ground, as Craig ran over towards him, and the circle of fire disappeared, and the remainder of the group ran over as well.

"James… Wake up," said Craig, kneeling down to James, which upon request, opened his eyes.

"Craig, this isn't the last we'll be seeing of each other, and the next time we meet, it WILL be different," told the still-possessed James, although upon finishing talking, his dark white vanished, as did the Anarchist sign on his arm, and James turned unconscious again.

Craig's head immediately flicked around to Larke, who remained in her original spot. Craig stood back and re-activated his Duel Disk.

"What did I do this time?" asked Larke, laughing at Craig.

"You said you'd give him back to me," replied Craig through gritted teeth.

"We did,"

"I was expecting him to have consciousness," added Craig.

Hayley walked up to Craig, and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Leave her. She's mine," said Hayley, recognizing the Dark Pink Key Larke had, somehow, she wasn't surprised.

Craig removed Hayley's hand, and walked closer to Larke, and turned the walk into a run towards Larke, and just as he got close to her…

"Bye," she said, as vanished again.

Xxxxx

"Ryan… you lost…" blamed Larke, appearing in the room.

"I wanted to lose… now I know all of his new cards," replied Ryan.

"Yeah… totally," added Larke sarcastically.

"Children, children. There is no need to argue. I have just gained us the weapon that shall win us this war," interrupted a man in a mask, Karādorein, entering the area.

"You said the same thing about Etain, and she totally won," reminded Ryan and the stared up at a crystal ornament hanging from the ceiling, in one of those many empty crystals was Etain, he could see her flashing, trapped forever.

"Shut the hell up," replied Karādorein. _'I will have her by her birthday,'_he thought to himself.

Xxxxx

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	10. A Princess is in Town

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 10: A Princess is in Town**

The next couple of weeks passed quickly and were moderately peaceful. Aster had found his father, his guardian, The D had had him trapped in the last Destiny Hero card his father had created and Aster had been able to defeat the D and that set his father free. Everyone who knew Aster well was overjoyed for him and had thrown a party for the reunited father and son.

Larke and Jaden had completely disappeared and Syrus had come back to them, ashamed of how he'd acted and he'd apologized profusely until they were sick of it.

James was still unconscious but Hayley had comforted Craig that maybe when one of them dueled they could ask for James to be brought back. Craig still visited him every day though and left his bed late at night.

They had also witnessed Taniya training Hayley and had learned that Hayley could shape shift just like her sister, her form was a black panther, she still had her pink streaks and wisteria mark in her panther form and she still had her flower that never ever wilted, it was tucked behind one ear.

It was soon March and everyone was filing into the music room where Hayley was standing on the stage, waiting to make an announcement, she was in charge of planning Duel Academy's first ever Spring Promenade, she'd suggested it and her unmatchable love of flowers made her perfect for the job. She looked at everyone who'd come, Bastion, Craig, Flo, Chazz, Syrus, Alexis, Hasselberry, Jasmine, Mindy, Atticus, Aster, Sartorious, Sarina and others from Chazz's Freshman year, Belowski, Damon, Dimitri, Brier, Beauregard, Torrey and Harrington. Chumley had made a surprise visit with Pegasus, who was in a meeting with Sheppard. A young girl named Blair Flannigan had recently joined Duel Academy in Obelisk. There was Missy, and the girls she'd competed against for the title of Beauty Queen, Kale, Jade, Tina, Brenda, Darla, Sawyer, Wendy and Zoe. Hasselberry had also invited one of his earliest friends, Taigo. There was also Bob Banter and Zane, who was taking some time off from the Pro Leagues.

Everyone, except for Bastion was talking and Hayley was trying to get their attention. Bastion saw that it wasn't working and gave a loud whistle that caused everyone to stop talking and look at him.

"She's trying to speak," he explained and sat down.

"Thank you Bastion," said Hayley, giving him a smile and then started her speech, "As you all know this is our first Spring Promenade and I've been put in charge of it. We are all going to create personal floats that represent us and you can share a float if you want. If you need any help with colours or flowers or decorations please ask me and I'll help you. Now…"

She never got to finish as the door opened rather violently and a small, bipedal dragon burst in. He was blue, with an orange tummy, a purple mohawk, blue eyes, orange ears and there were three, small, yellow spikes on his tail.

"Princess Hayley, there you are," he said.

"Hayley gasped, "Spike!"

"Princess Hayley!" chorused everyone in the room and Hayley cringed.

"Hi Princess Hayley!" said three girls who had just come in. They were all Amazons that was certain, they were less muscled than Taniya but more than Hayley, their skin tone darker than hers. They were obviously triplets as they had the same face and were the same height but that was where the resemblances ended. The first one had yellow hair with orange mixed in and blue eyes, the second girl had pink hair and blue eyes and the last one had purple hair with lilac mixed in and purple eyes.

"Oh, Zelda, Tamera, Tiffany! What you all doing here?" asked Hayley, she was horrified. Now her secret was out and everyone would start treating her differently.

Taniya then showed up, looking very unhappy, "Sorry Hayley, I couldn't keep Spike away and the girls came unexpectedly."

"Wait a minute, Hayley, you're a princess?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Is this what Karādorein was talking about?"

"Is this why Larke always called you Little Princess?"

"When did you become a princess?"

The questions came thick and fast and Hayley couldn't take anymore, "SHUT UP!" and everyone jumped back, shocked that their sweet and quiet Hayley yelled.

"Yes I'm a princess alright! Last year, while Taniya was gone I accidently tumbled into a cave with Zelda and another of my friends, Penny, we found the flower and I touched it and that woke up Lord Spike, who is a real Duel Monster, he's supposed to be my teacher and protector. He was asleep for a thousand years before I woke him up. Since I touched the flower it was mine and I later learned that it meant that I was the new Amazon princess, the Princess of Flowers and Princess of the Colours, though I've never been sure of what that last one meant. Yes, this is what Karādorein was talking about. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to like me just because I'm a Princess, I wanted you to like me for me. The Little Princess thing is one of my titles and Larke takes every opportunity to mock it," explained Hayley and then gestured to the three girls.

"These are my Ladies in Waiting, the one with yellow and orange hair is Zelda, the pink haired one is Tamera and the one with purple and lilac hair is Tiffany. I should also tell you that the Wisteria mark is not a tattoo; I got it when I became the Princess, it's the symbol of the Princess and I also got my pink streaks then as well, another symbol," she said and looked sad.

"You know what Hayley," said Bastion coming forward, "You don't need a flower, a mark or streaks in your hair to mark you as a princess, because you are already a princess and you've stayed true to yourself despite all that's happened to you and this is what makes you so special, it's what makes you shine and I am honored to know someone as special as you," he said and took her hand and kissed it.

Hayley had tears running down her cheeks, and so did the rest of the girls, Bastion was everything a girl wanted, smart, kind and sensitive, Hayley was so lucky to have him, even though they still hadn't said their feelings out loud. It was driving everyone crazy.

"Thank you Bastion, thank you so much," she whispered and laid her head on his chest and he gently stroked her hair.

Xxxxx

High above in his castle, Karādorein's eyes practically glowed with jealousy as he watched them through his spy mirror, "How dare he touch what is mine!" he hissed through his teeth. "I will make him suffer by making him watch her fall in love with me, the Princess of the Colours should be with no one else but me, the soon to be ruler of the world and all the colours! Ah ha haha ha haha ha!" his laughter echoed off the walls.

Xxxxx

Unaware that he was being threatened, Bastion was still stroking Hayley's hair when Spike coughed, "I really do hate to break this up but we must continue your training Princess, the training that stopped when you came here," he said.

"Training? Woah, wait, Spike, I can't go into training now, who's going to plan the promenade and do all the decorations and arrange the colours and the flowers?" asked Hayley, not looking forward to this.

"Princess, Princess, Princess, Princesses do not plan Promenades, they ride in them," said Spike.

"Really? Who is going to plan it then?" asked Hayley.

"Oh, oh, oh, pick me Princess Hayley, I know how you work and I see that you have the plans right here. I can do all of it for you while you do your training," said Zelda excitedly and dashed over to the stage where Hayley had indeed left her notes and plans and grabbed them. "I brought my tools with me in case you were doing a gardening project like you do at home and I was right, don't worry I'll get right on it," said Zelda and dashed out the door.

"No, wait Zelda, I couldn't ask you to…" and she was out of sight and hearing before Hayley could finish. She sighed; once Zelda got started there was no stopping her.

Her friends had been amused at Zelda and had also been whispering among each other and then Alexis walked forward.

"Hayley, we all love you and we love the idea of you being Duel Academy's Princess even more, Bastion is right, you are very special. You go and train with Spike; I think Zelda can handle it," Alexis said.

"Well…" said Hayley a bit unsure.

"You're a great Princess Hayley," said Syrus.

"Yeah," nodded Flo.

"We'll be fine," said Craig.

"I think that we all agree that you will be a wonderful princess, so go and make us proud," Bastion said and smiled at her.

"Well alright, I guess I'll see you all later," said Hayley and left with Spike, Tiffany and Tamera.

"Hurray for Princess Hayley!" everyone cheered.

"Ha, I just had a thought, this is no longer a normal Spring Promenade, it's an extra special Princess Promenade!" exclaimed Bastion and everyone nodded in agreement. Taniya smiled; maybe things would turn out alright after all.

Later on in the highest point in the Academy, Hayley was practicing walking with some books on her head and Spike was reading a Princess Rulebook while Tiffany and Tamera waited.

Tiffany spoke to her sister, "You know Tamera, we never actually found out what a Lady in waiting does. What does a Lady in waiting do?"

"Tiffany, I think we're doing it, we're waiting," giggled Tamera.

"Oh, ok, I can't wait, I mean I can wait. I just can't wait to start waiting," babbled Tiffany and her sister giggled.

"Now Princess, lesson six, what do your subjects call you?" asked Spike.

"Subjects? What subjects? Wait a minute! Spike! We talked about this last year, I do have friends and I do have equals and I don't have subjects!" yelled Hayley in frustration.

"Oops, I'm so sorry Princess, I guess I forgot, it's been such a long time and I've been reading this book for far too long. You're right of course but you still have a lot to learn about being a princess, Tiffany, Tamera, no more waiting," said Spike. Hayley nodded in acceptance of his apology and Tiffany and Tamera jumped at the chance to do something, Tiffany was given a scepter and Tamera a crown.

"Let's begin," said Spike and began to sing,

"When you're royalty

You must learn to be full of grace in all you do

Stand up nice and tall

Smile at one and all

Don't forget the world is looking up to you

Hang in there, you'll be fine

This is your time to shine

Show them a princess is in town

On this amazing day, things can't be just ok (All the girls and boys)

No time to spare because a princess is in town (All the girls and boys)

We're in a spin alright, working all with all our might (All the girls and boys)

Full of excitement cause a princess is in town (All the girls and boys)

With your breezy style

And your easy smile

You'll be dazzling

Oh, I hope you know it's true

Head up

Now mind your crown

Try not to snag your gown

Show them a princess is in town

Hang in there, you'll be fine

This is your time to shine

Show them a princess is in town

Let's plan to look our best (All the girls and boys)

And surely she'll be impressed (All the girls and boys)

It's hard to believe it but a princess is in town (All the girls and boys)

We know her highness is the grandest of princess' (All the girls and boys)

No small location when a princess is in town (All the girls and boys)

Wave at all in sight

To the left and right

When they curtsy never laugh or yawn or frown

Don't mean to fret and fuss (All the girls and boys)

We hope you will pardon us (All the girls and boys)

It's just that a princess is in town (All the girls and boys)

Heads up, she'll soon be here (All the girls and boys)

We'll give an enormous cheer (All the girls and boys)

Show them a princess is in town

Show them (Spike), a princess is in town" (All the girls and boys and Spike)

Xxxxx

Sometime after the song Hayley and Spike, along with Tamera and Tiffany went down to look at how the floats were coming.

"Hi Hayley, how's my float?" said Missy, looking over her giant flower Insect Queen.

"It looks very buggy Missy, let me help," said Hayley and picked up a watering can and began to water, Spike gasped and took the can from her and watered the flowers himself before turning to Hayley.

"A princess never waters anything except the royal flower," he said.

"What?" asked Hayley but Spike was walking again and for a small dragon he certainly walked fast.

They came up to Alexis and Flo arguing, "Your float is on top of mine," said Flo.

"Well Flo, maybe if I had been able to see past your Dark Magician float my Cyber Girl float wouldn't have crashed into it," said Alexis.

"So you are blaming me?" asked Flo.

"Hi girls," said Hayley coming up to her friends.

"Princess Hayley!" they said at the same time.

"That's a… interesting float," Hayley said.

"Uh, yeah, we decided to combine our floats, it's a… Cyber Magician float," said Alexis, lying through her teeth. She didn't want Hayley to worry about them and the floats.

"Yeah, magic and science, what a combo," said Flo smiling, wanting the same thing as Alexis.

"It's so nice to see you working to together, well, I've got to go and see the others, later girls," said Hayley and Alexis and Flo high fived.

Hayley stopped to smell the flowers and was stopped by Spike, "A princess doesn't sniff except for the Royal Flower," he chided her and kept on walking, Hayley sighed and followed.

Jasmine was busy making a very blue float and Mindy was making a very green float.

Zelda came over to see the float and looked at what Jasmine was putting up, it looked like a monstrosity to her, "What do you think Zelda? Have I captured it?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes and I think you should set it free, what is it?" she asked.

"It's a balloon of a completely blue Happy Lover," said Jasmine.

"Oh," Zelda said and sighed.

Then Mindy who was backing away bumped into Jasmine.

"Mindy what are you doing on my completely blue float?" asked Jasmine.

"Me? What are you doing on my completely green float," and they looked at their float to see that it was half blue and half green.

They gasped and then Mindy laughed, "You have no green leaves on your float Jasmine."

"What about you, there are no green flowers, only leaves," Jasmine pointed out with a grin.

"Hi Jasmine, hi Mindy," said a voice and they turned to Hayley smiling up at them.

"Oh, uh hi Princess!" they said and jumped down from it.

"I love your float, blue flowers and green leaves, it's so nice when friends work together to create something beautiful," said Hayley, she really did like the float.

"I guess our float is pretty," said Jasmine.

"Yeah though I think my side needs a touch more green," said Mindy and began to dig up another green plant.

"Let me help," said Hayley and began digging only to be stopped by Spike.

"A princess doesn't dig," he said.

"A princess doesn't do a lot of things it seems," said Hayley and walked off with Spike.

"Thanks Princess," said Jasmine and Mindy.

"Hayley," she said.

"Thanks Princess Hayley," they said.

"No, that's not what I meant, it's just Hayley," she said quietly, never noticing her sister watching her.

Xxxxx

Later Hayley was sitting in the room that she had taken for her training and was sadly twirling her flower in her fingers. "Today started out so nice and now look at it, the others must think I'm a snob, after today, I wouldn't be friends with me," said Hayley.

"Did you say something princess?" asked Spike walking in.

"Yes, Spike, I…" began Hayley but Spike interrupted her,

"No need to thank me you know I'm here to help you become the best princess possible. I hope you learned a lot today," he said and walked out.

"Yes Spike I did," said Hayley to no one.

Xxxxx

"Everyone, attention!" called Alexis.

"What's going on Alexis?" asked Kale.

"The making of the floats is not going well, the decorations are a mess and the colours clash," she replied. "No offense Zelda, you're doing your best but we need an expert."

"So let's ask Hayley for help," called Jade.

"Yeah under normal circumstances that would be the best thing to do but she's in Princess training, it's more important, if we asked Hayley for help she'd drop it in an instant. We can't be selfish, we're going to have to get through this on our own," said Flo and everyone agreed, not seeing Taniya shaking her head nor Bastion who had come to get some Wisteria for a surprise he was giving to Hayley.

Taniya walked over to him, "They really don't know her if they think that she'd rather be training to be a princess than helping them," she said quietly.

"Yeah, but I have a feeling that Hayley's not going to play pretend Princess for too much longer, she'll probably have a surprise for everyone tomorrow," Bastion replied and picked the Wisteria.

"You know her too well Bastion," said Taniya with a smile, she was also certain that Hayley would surprise them tomorrow.

Bastion grinned and then left to meet up with Craig and the other boys.

Xxxxx

Hayley stood on the balcony and sighed, Tiffany and Tamera beside her.

"Ladies, could you get me some orange juice?" asked Hayley.

"Ok," they said and put their right hands together and then frowned, "It doesn't feel right without Zelda," said Tamera.

"I miss her," said Tiffany.

"You're both right, none of this is right," Hayley said and stared out at the floats and her friends.

Xxxxx

At the same time this was taking place Bastion was meeting a very important person in secret. They had what he had designed and offered to them. This could change the world of Dueling and how people dueled forever.

"Here they are Bastion, this one is for your girlfriend," they said with a small smile.

Bastion blushed, "She's not my girlfriend…yet."

The person smiled and nodded, "I'll be staying until tomorrow evening, I want to observe the Promenade," they said and Bastion smiled.

Xxxxx

Hayley was taking a walk around the floats without Spike and her ladies-in-waiting. She saw what a mess they were in and went over to Mindy and Jasmine's float, putting a green leaf and blue flower together in the middle of it on the side, "There, that's a bit better, she said before going to Alexis' float and tying a bow on the corner, "Alexis will be so glad I tied her darling bow, darling," she giggled and went to see what else she could do. She stopped to sniff some flowers and remembered what Spike had said,

'_Princesses don't sniff.'_

"Well this Princess does," said Hayley to herself and happily sniffed the flowers.

She came across a wonderful sight, "Huh, oh, it's my own tiara float," she said and it was beautiful, it had a red and gold throne in the middle and a huge, pink tiara was arced above it.

"Green paper? Mindy must have helped," Hayley observed as she saw a lot of green paper on the ground around the float.

She then went over to put some fallen flowers back inside Wendy's flower ice cream cone, "Delicious," she giggled again, she began to water them, and remembered what Spike had said, _'Princesses don't water.'_

"Hm, this Princess does," and watered the flowers.

After that she walked some more and saw that Sawyer's float needed some flowers. There were some in the dirt next to it and Spikes words floated back to her,

"_Princesses don't dig."_

"Guess what, this princess does," Hayley said and began to dig, as she was digging a thought stuck her and she gasped, "That's it! I've made a royal decision!" and laughing, she ran back to where Spike was sitting with Tamera and Tiffany.

"I wanna talk more about this Princess stuff. I wanna be me again!" she exclaimed.

"Princess, princess, princess, you're tired, get some rest. Oh, now I sound like my grandmother," he said. "Oh, you don't know what you want, eat something. Now I sound like my mother!"

"No, I don't want food and I don't want sleep. I want to smell the flowers, I want to water my plants and I want to dig in the dirt. I just want to be me again," said Hayley.

Spike fainted.

"SPIKE!" called all three girls and ran over to him, Hayley shook him.

"Spike, are you ok? Spike, speak to me."

"I'll be fine; it might take another thousand years for me to find another Princess…" and he yawned.

"What are you talking about? Do you think that I'm quitting or something?" asked Hayley in confusion.

"Why else wouldn't you want to be a princess? Everyone wants to be one, even me or a prince for me," he said.

"You've got your facts wrong Spike. I'm not quitting, I just don't want to live with the rules of being a princess and be someone I'm not. I'm still the Princess of the Colours, the Amazon princess and the Princess of Flowers. I'm also Duel Academy's princess. I couldn't quit, not after what everyone has done for me. Last year you never got the chance to teach me too many things because of our customs and that short Amazon war that we had with the other tribe and then I get to go to Duel Academy, so it's no wonder that I'm still new at this Princess stuff. Spike, I've learned a lot about being a Princess but now it's time for you to learn what it's to be a student of Duel Academy," said Hayley with a smile.

"I'm ready to learn whatever you have to teach me Princess," said Spike, pleased that he would still serve Hayley.

Hayley giggled and began to whisper her plan to him and Tamera and Tiffany.

Xxxxx

Later that night Zelda was in despair, "Let's see I could put the Daisy's next to the Poppies, no that won't work," she said and then saw a bunch of perfect flowers, whose colours matched, on the vanity. Zelda grabbed them and put them in place on a float.

"I was wrong, I can't do this by myself and I miss my sisters," and sighed unhappily.

"Tamera, you go first," said a voice she knew well.

"No, Zelda, I insist, you go first," said a second voice she knew very well.

She laughed, "No, Tiffany I insist, you go first," she answered and turned to see her sister and Hayley and Spike.

She ran over and hugged Tiffany and Tamera and Hayley went over to the plans for the Promenade which were on the floor.

"Hayley…I, oh, I mean, Princess," said Zelda.

"Ha, you had it right the first time. It's not hopeless, nor is it as bad as it seems but we've still got some work to do," said Hayley and the girls and Spike glanced at each other and smiled.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile in another part of Duel Academy Bastion planning a surprise for Hayley, earlier on, he had called all the boys together and shared his plan with them and now it was in motion, and since the girls were finished with their floats for the day, they were there too.

"Life's a blast

Quiet a treat

Just fantastic

Positively pink

How we feel

Can't be beat

Truly, really

Positively pink

(The boys were laughing at what they were singing and doing but it was fun and it was for Hayley, so they didn't mind. The girls were laughing at the boys and at how much fun this was!)

One and all

Sing this tune

And we'll call it

Positively pink

Soon you'll see

Each balloon

Every tree

Turn positively pink

Minty green is fresh and clean

Baby blue is gorgeous too

But somehow, today we think

All the world should have a pretty…

Pinky glow

Pinky shine

Pink as roses

Positively pink

Life is grand

It's divine

Sweet as candy

Absolutely, definitely Positively Pink!"

Chazz ended up falling into a bucket of pink paint and he was covered in pink but he laughed with everyone else. Bastion grinned, tomorrow would be truly special for Hayley.

Xxxxx

The next day all the girls were pleasantly surprised to see their floats looking perfect, the decorations were splendid, the flowers were gorgeous and their colours matched perfectly.

"Wow Zelda, I'm impressed, you did a great job," said Alexis.

"Yeah, everything is great," Flo said, smiling at her newest friend.

"Well, you might say that everything got the royal treatment," said Zelda and grinned at them.

The parade was soon underway and it was delightful sight, Hayley's float rolled by first and then came the others one by one.

Everything was going smoothly when Hayley shouted, "STOP EVERYTHING!"

The floats screeched to halt and bumped into each other. Both Bastion and Taniya looked at each other and nodded, Hayley was going to surprise them all.

Taniya leant over and whispered to Bastion, "Just wait for her to finish and then take every boy to the place and get ready."

"Gotcha," Bastion whispered back.

Flo, Alexis and Missy came running up to Hayley.

"Hayley, are you alright?" asked Flo.

"I'm fine, in fact I've never been better," said Hayley smiling and stood up. She was dressed in a pink dress with a big, red bow at the back. She wore a black choker around her neck that had a yellow flower attached to it; her dress had a white collar that also had a yellow flower on it. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a pretty red ribbon and her shoes were tiny heels with a small yellow flower on each of them and her special flower was in her hair and a pink tiara with three diamonds were embedded in it. Empress was next to her and she had a pink bow on her tail and a small tiara.

"First of all I want to thank everyone for making me feel very special as Duel Academy's very first Princess," she said and this was met with cheers.

"I hardly know where to start, being made to take on my responsibilities as a princess has made me realize how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends as all of you. Being called Princess is just that, a name, so as a Princess, I am making all the girls of Duel Academy, Princesses for today," said Hayley and all of this was met with more cheers.

"Princess Flo," said Hayley.

"Who me? Princess Flo?" she asked, delighted and hopped onto the float, using Amazon magic, Zelda, Tamera and Tiffany gave her a blue cloak, glitter on her dress and a blue crown.

"Princess Alexis," called Hayley and Alexis came up and received the same treatment, a red cloak, a bracelet and a red crown.

"Princess Taniya," Hayley said to her sister, ho smiled and came up and gained a crown and an orange dress, she secretly pointed her fingers to Bastion, who understood that this was his cue to leave. He motioned to the boys, who left discreetly.

Spike stepped forward and began to sing,

"Hip hip hurray

Today's the day

How nice that everyone's a princess

Good gracious me! (Spike said as Zelda, Tiffany and Tamera placed a crown on his head)

Tee hee tee hee (Zelda, Tamera and Tiffany said, lifting him up and going over to the throne and placing him on it)

No one is happier than we (Zelda, Tamera and Tiffany)

We'll spend this day (Girls on the float)

In a princessy way (Girls on the float)

Wearing crowns aglore (Girls on the float)

Everyone of us a wonder to behold (Girls on the float)

By this time Kale, Tina and Jade were up on the float as well, all having crowns.

Hip hip hurrah (Hayley)

Tra la tra la (Hayley)

I'm glad that everyone's a princess (Hayley)

Don't make a fuss (Hayley)

We're still just us (Hayley)

Although we're also royalty (Hayley)

I solemnly decree (Spike)

To one and all of ye (Spike)

That spring is truly here (Spike)

We say to every tree (all girls)

And every flower we see (all girls)

You look divine my dear (Kale said to Tina)

Hip hip hurrah (all girls and Spike)

Tra la tra la (all girls and Spike)

We're glad that everyone's a princess (all girls)

That's you and you (Spike)

And yes it's true (Spike)

That you are a princess too" (all girls)

Everyone cheered and then Hayley noticed that the boys weren't there, "Taniya, where are the guys?" she asked.

"Come with me," she said and jumped off the float, bidding Hayley to sit back on her throne and the other girls to get back on their own floats, "You're getting the royal treatment now little sister," and lead the way to the gardens, it was beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful, it was positively pink!

A big pale-pink banner was stretched across the arc that lead into the gardens, saying 'HAPPY BRITHDAY HAYLEY!' in pink letters. Yes, it was the fifteenth of March, Hayley's 16th birthday.

Hayley gasped as all the boys, teachers, Pegasus and the girls that hadn't made floats jumped out of their hiding places, "SURPRISE! HAPPY BRITHDAY HAYLEY!" with Bastion in the front of the crowd.

"Oh my, you did all of this just for me?" asked Hayley, her hands clasped underneath her chin.

"Yes," said Taniya.

"This is absolutely unbelievable," Hayley said, a few tears of happiness coming forth.

"Let's Party!" called Mindy.

Bastion jumped up next to Hayley on the float and began to sing,

"Coloured streamers (Bastion)

Party favors (Bastion)

Ice cream in assorted flavors (Bastion)

All of the ingredients are here (Bastion)

For an unforgettable party (Everyone)

To usher in your 16th year! (Everyone)

All your friends have been invited (Taniya)

Everyone is so excited (Taniya)

Thinking of the games that we will play (Taniya)

At this unforgettable party (Everyone)

To celebrate your big day! (Everyone)

Dueling (Chazz)

Costume contest (Atticus)

Dancing and singing (Jasmine)

That's what makes a memorable party (Bastion)

Fun and games that everyone shares (Everyone)

Read cards with heartfelt wishes (Bastion)

Taste the chocolate, it's delicious (Bastion)

See the gifts of every shape and size (Bastion)

It's an unforgettable party (Everyone)

A Happy Birthday Surprise (Everyone)

It's an unforgettable party (Everyone)

A Happy Birthday Surprise!" (Everyone)

"Happy Birthday Hayley," said Bastion wheeling a huge pink cake towards her.

"Happy Birthday!" said everyone else.

"Make a wish and blow out the candles," urged Tiffany.

"One of my wishes already came true, all my friends are here," said Hayley with tears in her eyes.

"Then make your next wish," said Craig, handing her a knife. Hayley grinned and took the knife from him. Not needing to think twice about what she wanted to wish for, she blew out the candles and then cut the cake. It was shared among everyone and then they went on the gifts. Hayley got a lot of things that she loved but wondered why she got nothing from Bastion.

"Hayley," called Bastion. She turned to look at him, he was standing next a large gift, it was covered by a pink cloth and had a pink bow tied on it. Bastion was holding a bunch of roses and wisteria in his hands and he was smiling.

"Happy Birthday," he said and gave her the flowers. She inhaled their sweet fragrance, smiling, Bastion always knew what would please her.

"What's my present?" she asked, pointing to the gift.

Bastion's reply was never found out because of the laughter that erupted from above them and then before anyone could blink a smoke bomb was thrown and down and the whole area was covered in smoke. Everyone was coughing and then they heard more laughter and a voice they didn't want to hear.

"Say good bye to the Little Princess!" and everyone looked up to see a helicopter with Larke and Jaden standing at the door looking down at them and Ryan was just visible, piloting the copter and there was Hayley, hanging from the copter in a net.

"BASTION! TANIYA! HELP ME!" she screamed as the copter began to fly away very fast.

"I'm coming!" yelled Bastion but just as he began to run another smoke bomb was thrown and no one could see a thing, though they did hear Larke, Jaden and Ryan's laughter as they flew away. Once the smoke cleared everyone saw a furious Bastion and Taniya, along with Zelda, Tamera and Tiffany.

"I've got to save her," cried Bastion and began running, he didn't know how he was going to save Hayley but he would do whatever it took.

"I know how you can save her," said Spike, stepping in his way.

"How?" Bastion asked him urgently.

"I have a special ability that is if I go to the graveyard, or in this case, stay here, you can summon a Dragon type monster with twenty-eight hundred attack points or higher," Spike explained.

"I don't have a dragon with that type of attack power, the only thing that comes close is Water Dragon but despite the name he's not classified as a dragon," said Bastion in desperation.

"Bastion!" called a voice and he turned to see his secret gift bringer from last night, the one and only, Seto Kaiba!

"What is it sir?" Bastion asked, ignoring the gasps and swoons from everyone.

"I have a dragon that's got attack points higher that twenty-eight hundred," and Seto handed him a card. Bastion's eyes widened as he saw the monster.

"But, but, it's…" he protested weakly.

"It's the only way for you to save her, I trust you Bastion, go and save her," said Seto softly, looking at the boy who had had such a brilliant idea, it was probably going to change the way people duel for years to come.

"Thank you sir," said Bastion and then Seto backed away, giving him room. "Ok, Spike, activate your ability!" said Bastion and the dragon made his way over to Taniya and snapped his fingers.

Bastion yelled out the name of the card Seto had given him, "Come forth! BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!" and brilliant light shone from the card and then the most magnificent dragon appeared, the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Everyone gasped and awed and couldn't believe that this was happening. Taniya knew that Bastion would save her sister, she trusted him. Blue Eyes looked at Bastion and then indicated for him to get on. Bastion climbed on his back.

"Let's go Blue Eyes!" and with one sweep of his wings, Blue Eyes was airborne and following the scent of magic that was left behind by Hayley and her Colour Key, he sped through the air, making Bastion hold on even tighter. Sometime later Bastion saw a floating, beautiful Palace, and Blue Eyes was heading straight for it.

'_That must be Karādorein's base. Hayley's in there somewhere,'_ he thought and watched as it got closer. They landed right at the door and Bastion got off Blue Eyes' back and looked around, going up the steps as he did so.

"Looks like they weren't expecting me or anyone else to chase them or find them for that matter. Stay here Blue Eyes, I'll be back with Hayley soon, get ready to fly then," said Bastion and Blue Eyes nodded. Bastion opened the door and walked in. He gasped at the architecture and all the wondrous things that were there. Karādorein certainly believed in living in comfort and wealth, he'd never seen so many rare and valuable things in his life as he made his way over to the other side of the room, going through the door that was there. It led him down a passage and following it he came across an unwelcome surprise in the next room.

"Jaden!"

"Bastion!"

Yes, Jaden was there and so was Larke but Bastion didn't pay any attention to her; his attention was focused on his former friend.

"How did you get here?"

"That's my secret. Now, tell me, where is Hayley!" Bastion demanded.

Jaden gave an evil laugh and a Duel Disk appeared on his arm, "You have to beat me to find out," and the doors all slammed shut, effectively trapping Bastion.

He hesitated, he didn't have a duel disk but he had to get one somehow or he'd never rescue the girl he loved. As though that was the key, his yellow colour key began to glow and his body began to glow as well. The glow stopped and Bastion gasped at what he was wearing, for he no longer wore his uniform.

Instead he was wearing white pants, a white shirt and a yellow jacket with black trim and attached to his shoulders was a yellow cloak with black trim. Around his head was a simple gold headband and at his side was a magnificent sword, its solid gold hilt decorated with onyx and topaz gemstones and when Bastion took it out of its scabbard, the blade shone brightly and was made of pure silver.

He turned it over in his hands, marveling at the craftsmanship and how light it was. He swung it and once again he was in awe at how easy it was to hold and use. It was just the right height and weight for him. This was his sword.

His key glowed again and his right arm got a Duel Disk, a yellow one trimmed with black and white and set with topaz and black quartz.

Bastion sheathed his sword and taking out his deck, grinned at Jaden, who looked horrified at what had just occurred as did Larke.

"Well Jaden are you ready to lose?" asked Bastion, giving his deck a shuffle and slotting it into his new duel disk.

"Grrr, you're the one who's going to lose! Get your game on!" said Jaden and drew five cards.

"Let the new wind blow," said Bastion, drawing his own cards. Both Jaden and Larke were confused at that, what did he mean?

B: 4000

J: 4000

"I'll start and I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in Attack Mode and then I'll play a facedown and call it a turn," said Jaden. (EHB 1200/800)

"My draw and I think I should warn you that I have a new deck with cards you've never seen before," said Bastion smirking at Jaden.

"It doesn't matter, I've got new cards too," said Jaden although he didn't like hearing that Bastion had a new deck, that meant that he couldn't predict what Bastion was going to play.

"Alright, watch and be amazed, I play a spell card, Card Destruction, now we both discard our hands and draw new cards equal to the number of cards we discarded," Bastion explained. They did so, Jaden taunting Bastion about not getting a good hand.

"Oh, I got a good hand Jaden; I just needed a new one for my strategy to work. I now summon Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North in attack mode," and a white bird with black-edged wings appeared on the field. (B-BFN 1300/0)

"Blackwing?" asked Jaden, Bastion was right he hadn't heard of it.

'That's right and Blizzard has an effect, when he's normal summoned I can Special summon one Blackwing Level four or lower from my _graveyard _in upright defense mode," said Bastion and Jaden's eyes widened. "I choose Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame in defense mode," said Bastion. A bird with huge black wings and a blue head and humanoid body appeared on the field. (B – SBF 1800/1200)

"Alright, Blizzard…"

"Not so fast Bastion I activate my facedown, a trap called Evil Blast, I can only activate it when my opponent Special Summons a monster, that monster then get equipped with this card and gains five hundred attack points but during your Standby Phase you take five hundred points of damage," laughed Jaden. (B – SBF 2300/1200)

Bastion growled, but looking at his hand he grinned, realizing that he wouldn't be getting any damage from Evil Blast. He smirked, which unnerved Jaden.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes I remember, Blizzard, destroy Burstinatrix," ordered Bastion and Burstinatrix's flame was put out.

B: 4000

J: 3900

"Now from my hand I activate Urgent Tuning! I can only activate this in the Battle Phase. I can now Synchro Summon a Synchro monster," said Bastion.

"NO, you can't, only Hayley and Craig can Synchro Summon!" shouted Jaden, he knew that he was in trouble.

"I can, come on out, Blackwing – Armed Wing!" (B-AW 2300/1000) A humanoid bird with purple pants, purple armor, black tail feathers, black wings, a shock of red hair and wearing a purple mask and carrying a blue and orange gun appeared on the field.

"This means that your Evil Blast is destroyed," stated Bastion and Jaden groaned.

"Armed Wing, attack Jaden's Life Points directly!"

"Augh!" said Jaden as he was hit, the pain being very real.

B: 4000

J: 1600

"I end my turn with a face down," said Bastion.

"I draw and I play Monster Reborn and I'll bring back Burstinatrix from my grave, now I'll activate Dark Fusion, I can now special summon a Fusion Monster from my Fusion Deck! I'll send Burstinatrix and Clayman to the grave in order to summon Evil Hero Infernal Sniper in Defense Mode!" sad Jaden and Bastion gasped in horror, Jaden was gone, he truly was evil if he was using Evil Heroes. (EHIS – 2000/2500)

"He has an effect, if he's in defense mode during my Standby Phase you take one thousand points of damage," said Jaden with a grin. Bastion yelled as he felt the pain come from his losing life points.

B: 3000

J: 1600

"I end my turn," said Jaden, confident that Bastion wouldn't get through his defense. "Oh and by the way, none of your Monsters, Spells or traps can affect Sniper this turn, thanks to Dark Fusion," and Bastion growled.

"I begin my turn, and I play Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards, now, I'll Special Summon Breeze - the Zephyr in attack mode thanks to his effect of being able to be special summoned if added to my hand by a Spell, Trap or Effect Monster and I'll then play my facedown Spell card, Black Whirlwind, when a Blackwing Monster is Summoned to my side of the field I can add one Blackwing monster from my deck with less attack points than the summoned monster and this card is continuous," said Bastion and looked through his deck to pick his card. (B – BZ 1100/300) An orange and yellow bird appeared on the field; unlike its namesake it didn't have black wings.

"I can still normal Summon this turn so I'll summon Blackwing – Jinn the Dry Wind in attack mode," said Bastion and then he ended his turn. (B – JDW 600/500) A small humanoid bird came onto the field, with black loose pants, green sleeves, a sword, and a black piece of headgear on his head and black wings.

"I end my turn with a face-down," said Bastion calmly.

"I draw and since it's my standby phase, you take one thousand life points of damage," said Jaden smugly.

Bastion fought not to scream as he felt the pain.

B: 2000

J: 1600

I play facedown and Summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode," said Jaden. (EHS 1600/1400) I attack your Breeze," said Jaden.

"Yeah right, I activate my facedown, a trap I like to call Trap Hole, since you summoned a monster with over a thousand attack points it's now destroyed," said Bastion and Breeze was safe.

"I end my turn."

"Now for mine, I now return Breeze to my hand and deal four hundred point of damage to myself so that I can Special Summon, Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite in attack mode," said Bastion, cringing. (B – ZE 1600/1000) Another humanoid bird appeared; this one had a long yellow beak and blue hair that stuck up along with purple clothes and red armor, his black wings tipped with blue.

B: 1600

J: 1600

"Now, I'm going to give Armed Wing a Tune Up," said Bastion.

"Another Synchro summon?" asked Jaden, his eyes wide with fear, Bastion had played a very good game so far, it was hard to beat him now.

"Yeah, you know what they say; birds of a feather stick together, I'll now tune Jinn and Armed Wing to Synchro Summon, Blackwing Armor Master!" A very large humanoid bird appeared on Bastion's field, he had lots of black armor and the chest armor had orange designs and there was orange going through his very large black wings. (B – AM 2500/1500)

"He doesn't have enough attack points to get through my defense," said Jaden and laughed, to think he'd been worried.

"He has a special ability though, said Bastion and grinned as Jaden stopped laughing. "It goes like this, first of all he can't be destroyed by battle and I take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card and that's just one of his effects, you'll find out the others very soon, Master, attack his Sniper!" said Bastion and Armor Master attacked and left behind something in Sniper.

"What's that thing?"

"It's a Wedge Counter and I can place one of them on your monster and then remove it to get reduce of all your monsters attack and defense points to zero until the end of the turn," said Bastion with a grin. (EHIS – 2000/2500 – 0/0)

"Now, Zephyros, destroy his Sniper and take away the rest of Jaden's life points!" called Bastion and Zephyros did just that, causing Jaden to lose.

B: 1600

J: 0

"Game over. I am No 1," said Bastion and grinned but he then asked, "So, why aren't you going into a colour crystal?"

"When two different colours fight, you don't get transported into a Colour Crystal, only the colours that match can do that, it's possible though, but only if we had enough colours and we don't," said Larke, she wasn't feeling very happy, and would have dueled Bastion if she could but a Dark Colour could do only one duel against a Colour a day, that was the limit and that's why they were taking their time. She didn't want to tell Bastion this, but he had won and when in Karādorein's palace all truth must be told after a winner is decided.

"We aren't done yet Bastion," said Jaden and glared at him.

"Whatever, just tell me where Hayley is," said Bastion impatiently.

"Through that door, up the stairs, first door on the left," said Larke, darn this truth telling thing, if they were at Duel Academy she wouldn't have to say anything or she could lie. Bastion nodded and went to save the girl he loved.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile Hayley woke up and found herself on a large Queen sized, four poster bed in a magnificent room. She wondered how she fell asleep and then remembered that Larke had dropped some Sleep Powder on her when she wouldn't shut up. She sat up and was about to get off the bed when a door on the left side opened and a man about her age, maybe a year or two older came through. He was handsome but she could immediately sense the intense evil surrounding him.

"Are you Karādorein?" she asked, having only seen him with his mask on that one time, and he nodded, smiling at her, it was meant to be a nice smile but Hayley found it to be more of leer. "Why am I here?"

"I asked my 'friends' to bring you here. Hayley, you are the most powerful duelist I have come across, your talent and potential are unlimited and your beauty is unmatched, no one compares to you. Let's not forget the fact that you are a real Princess. It was not just luck that you touched the flower, you have royalty running through your veins, thanks to your ancestors, you and every other Amazon are descendant from inhumanly strong people from another of the eleven dimensions, who had animal DNA, which is why your tribe and any other Amazon tribe can transform. They came from their dimension when it fell to the dimension of the Supreme King and slowly, the Royal line was forgotten but the last of the royals left a guardian, near your village a thousand years ago, your little dragon friend," explained Karādorein.

Hayley gasped, from the things that Spike had told her last year, why it all made sense now, and this meant that Taniya was a Princess too. She thought for a moment and the spoke, "I appreciate the compliments and history lesson but I'm still confused about why you had my life time rival kidnap me and bring me here."

"I am going to rule this world and I need a Queen, you are perfect, strong, smart, beautiful and royal, like me. I want you to be mine," Karādorein said softly, going around the bed and sitting next to an astonished Hayley. He began to stroke her hair and looked into her eyes, she couldn't pull away.

"You will be given everything your heart desires, you will be my beautiful queen," he murmured in her ear, still stroking her hair, it felt as though all her memories of her family and Bastion were being taken away.

"No…Bastion…" Hayley protested weakly.

"Forget Bastion. Only I matter, my love, it's just you and me," Karādorein said.

"Only you matter? Why? Me and yo…Bastion, me and Bastion, together," muttered Hayley. Karādorein was amazed and furious, his powers should have fully erased her memories of Bastion but she was still thinking of him.

'_How is this possible? The bond between them must be stronger than I thought!' _he thought and mentally growled. Hayley however had been putting her mental Amazon training to the test and was trying to get a happy memory of her and Bastion, she absently clutched at her unicorn pendant that Bastion had given her, unicorn pendant, unicorn pendant! Bastion had given it to her for Christmas and they had both shared their first kiss under the mistletoe! Her eyes widened and all her memories came flooding back and so did her strength, she gave a huge mental push and forced Karādorein out of her mind. This got him thrown back and onto the floor. Hayley jumped up off the bed and made to go for the door but Karādorein jumped up and grabbed her.

"No I've waited too long," he said. Hayley writhed in his grasp, but she couldn't break free, she was strong but it was like being held in stone.

"Let me GO!" she shouted and at that moment the door burst open and in came Bastion in all his glory.

"Bastion!" cried Hayley in delight; she took in everything about him, noticing his new clothes and the sword.

"Hayley! Let her go Karādorein! Your fight is now with me!" ordered Bastion. Karādorein snarled and pushed Hayley aside and mentally summoned a sword and pointed it at Bastion who drew his own sword. He took a deep breath and relaxed, knowing that it was important. He made sure that he was balanced, properly positioned and his feet had sufficient distance between them. How did he know all this? He had spent many years as a child training his body under a Martial Arts Master, who also taught him many types of sword forms as well as Martial Arts, Kung Fu, other weapons, to use anything at his disposal and to think on his feet.

Karādorein lunged at him and he blocked, he lunged again, this time Bastion didn't block but he dodged and countered with his own lunge, one that made Karādorein go on the defensive. From there on it was a multitude of blocking, parrying, defense and thrusts. Karādorein was wearing down fast because he'd used his powers on Hayley and she had blasted him out of her mind hard, not to mention, he wasn't the most agile person and he didn't practice much, preferring to use his powers instead, this was why Bastion was winning.

Bastion found a weakness and, twisting his body to the left he thrusted his sword past Karādorein's defense and into his right side, making Karādorein drop his sword and scream. Bastion didn't waste time, he threw open the large window and whistled loud and long. Blue Eyes appeared a second later.

"Hayley come on," said Bastion and held out his hand to her which she took, she'd been watching the whole fight and thought that Karādorein got what he deserved. Normally she would feel sympathy but he was trying to drain the world of its colour, had kidnapped her, put her in a trance to make her forget Bastion and to fall in love with him, practically erasing her memories, was it any wonder she wasn't feeling any sympathy?

Bastion helped Hayley climb onto Blue Eyes and then climbed on himself. "Home Blue Eyes," he said and Blue Eyes let out a roar, turned and with a large flap of his wings sped off. Jaden and Larke watched from the window where they were and Ryan who had been working with the helicopter came out just in time to see Hayley holding onto Bastion's back. Karādorein, gripping his bleeding side, gritted his teeth, whether in pain or anger or both no one, if they were watching him, would have been able to tell, and he let out a low growl. He wouldn't get another chance until she faced him in a duel, that much was certain. She would be one of the last to fall, her dueling abilities and potential would make sure of it.

Xxxxx

Hayley held onto Bastion tightly, enjoying the wind rushing through her hair. She told him what had transpired in Karādorein's bedroom and Bastion was glad he had managed to hurt him otherwise he would have been even more tempted to go back and hurt him for doing what he did.

"I'm glad you're safe Starsong," he said turning to face her.

"Thank for rescuing me Bastion," she replied.

"Hayley, there's something I need to tell you," said Bastion, deciding that it was now or never.

"What is it?"

"I love you Hayley," Bastion said, facing her and looking at her with nothing but love in his stormy eyes.

Hayley gasped and tears of joy appeared in them, she had dreamed of him saying those words to her for a long time and now her dream had come true. "I love you too Bastion," she said, smiling at him through her tears. Bastion smiled so much it was a wonder his face didn't crack in half and he turned around fully, putting his arm around her waist and drawing her to his side before he leaned in and kissed her. It was even more magical then the one at Christmas and it symbolized a love that would last forever.

Blue Eyes turned his head to look at them, _'It's about time,'_ he thought, the whole Duel Monster population was waiting for it happen, they were both important to save the world from Karādorein with that other boy, what was his name, the one with the evil brother? Oh, right, Craig. These two needed their love to be strong when they faced Karādorein.

Xxxxx

Everyone at Duel Academy was scanning the sky and then Chazz let out a yell, "There they are!" and sure enough, Bastion was riding on Blue Eyes with Hayley beside him, he was kissing her.

Craig grinned and punched the air, "Finally!"

"It's about time," said Taniya, happy that her baby sister was back safe and sound.

Blue Eyes landed and Bastion got off and then helped Hayley off. Blue Eyes roared and then disappeared back into his card, which flew over to Seto Kaiba.

"What happened?" said Alexis as Taniya ran over to suffocate her sister and Bastion.

After prying themselves from her and after Hayley had given Spike a hug, Bastion said, "It's a long story Alexis and one worth hearing."

Hayley grinned at that, _'What a birthday,' _she thought and listened as Bastion began to tell his part of the tale. There was a lot uncovered and a lot of mysteries revealed but things would be made clear with help and time.

Xxxxx

**Please Review**


	11. Black Out

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 11: Black-Out**

It had been two weeks since the events of Hayley's birthday, and the discussion about the day had finally died out, and the daily routine had been returned to, and with no sign of any oncoming threat of the Anarchists, everyone around the school was allowed to relax; but with the end of the year gradually getting closer, the smarter of those had began revising for the end of year and graduation exams already. Although, one day, the entire Academy got called into the main classroom for an announcement.

Xxxxx

"So, what've we been called here for?" asked Chazz, entering the classroom, looking stubborn as usual, with his black key still around his neck.

"Well, basically, we're going to Domino City tomorrow possibly," began Craig.

"That's why we're on different sides, the left side wants to go to Domino City, but the right side wants to have a day back at Duel Academy, for some reason that they're not disclosing," explained Alexis further, who was on the left side, who had most of the school, whereas the right side had not as many people on it.

"Correct," said Sheppard, appearing on the screen at the front, "And so, to decide this, we're going to have a duel between two duelists, one from each side, and this random selector will choose which duelists are dueling,"

A random selecting machine appeared next to Sheppard, and began spinning around with many nametags inside, and when it eventually stopped, Sheppard pulled out two nametags, one from each side.

"Jacob Smith and… Craig Thresher!" announced Sheppard, as Jacob, a third-year Obelisk got up out of his chair swiftly, and walked down towards the Duel Field. Craig, however, had his mouth open with glee as he heard this, Jacob, was Flo's older brother, and one of the best duelists within the third year.

"Well, we're not going anywhere quickly," moaned Hassle berry doubtfully, who had dueled Jacob before, and had been destroyed.

"This is going to be awesome," replied Craig, rising out his chair slowly.

"Don't kill each other," muttered Flo, having witnessed Craig and Jacob's arguments before.

Xxxxx

"What on Earth have you even accepted this duel for?" asked Jacob spitefully. Jacob wore a short-sleeved blue shirt, and had black, slightly spiked hair with green eyes.

"Because we're going to Domino City tomorrow, you're not going to beat me again," replied Craig, who immediately remembered the last time they had dueled.

Xxxxx

_"Machine King! Attack him directly!" attacked Jacob, as the colossal machine launched a blast towards the thirteen year-old Craig, taking him to the ground, "Thanks for the warm-up before Duel Academy,"_

_Craig: 0_  
_Jacob: 4000_

Xxxxx

"Well, I've changed my Deck since the last time slightly," said Craig, slotting his Deck into his white Duel Disk with a red outline.

"As have I, I've heard all about your Synchros, and to be honest, I hate Synchros. You, Hayley and Bastion will spread these atrocities around this school, since they're working so well right now. I preferred Duel Monsters the way it was, so I'm going to stop this right now," explained Jacob, placing his Deck into his blue Duel Disk.

Xxxxx

"Why would you hate Synchros? And how is he going to stop them?" asked Bastion, eager to find out.

"He was talking to me about this the other day, apparently there's a card that can literally take out Synchros," replied Flo.

"Let's duel!" said both of the duelists.

Craig: 4000  
Jacob: 4000

"I'll start things off; I activate Hand Destruction, forcing us to discard two cards, and draw two as well," activated Jacob, doing the action as he said it, and Craig repeated it so, "And then, I'll Summon out Giga-Tech Wolf in Attack Mode, and I'll play two cards face-down to end my turn," (HTW 1200/1400)

Craig looked surprised at Jacob's move, having listened to his earlier claim about his anti-Synchros, and had expected something that was to be close to impossible to destroy.

"If that's all you can play, then I'll step it up a notch; I Summon out Junk Synchron, and thanks to his ability, I can Summon out the Level 2 monster Gamma Chick in Defense Mode from my Graveyard," said Craig. (JS 1300/500) (GC 0/0)

"How dare you even summon a Tuner monster in this duel…" snarled Jacob, staring at the small monster evilly.

A smile grew on Craig's face, knowing if he could agitate Jacob, he'd make more mistakes.

"I guess you'll love my next move then, because Junk Synchron is going to give Gamma Chick a Tune-Up!" announced Craig, much to the annoyance of Jacob, who cringed.

Junk Synchron dissolved into the air, and transformed into a blast of green light which surrounded Gamma Chick, as both began to transform.

"Junk Warrior … let's roll!" said Craig, as the purple warrior emerged from the tunnel, and stared down at Jacob's Giga Tech Wolf, "Also, since Gamma Chick was destroyed, Gamma the Magnet Warrior appears in Attack Mode!" (JW 2300/1300) (GMW 1500/1800)

Xxxxx

"Good job you showed Craig those Synchros, sis," commented Taniya, entering the room at the beginning of the school and was standing over Bastion and Hayley, "He's become a better duelist since."

"Yeah! Come on Major! You've got him now!" cheered Hasselberry.

"Weren't you upset earlier about how we weren't going to Domino City now?" asked Flo, as Hasselberry didn't reply.

Xxxxx

"Junk Warrior… let's take out the trash!" attacked Craig, as Junk Warrior charged towards Giga-Tech Wolf, and shattered the machine into many pieces, making Jacob slightly cringe as well, "Then, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, attack him directly!"

Craig: 4000  
Jacob: 1400

"I activate Damage Gate," interrupted Jacob, "This allows me to Summon a Monster with Attack Points less than the amount of damage I just took, so I bring forth, Wise Core," (WC 0/0)

"It's… got no Attack Points…" reminded Craig.

The white egg-looking shape appeared from the Trap Card, and opened up to reveal a mysterious portal.

"Doesn't matter – I activate my other Trap Card, Ring of Destruction. This equips to my Wise Core, and destroys it, but doesn't inflict any damage as it has no Attack Points," explained Jacob, as the Wise Core exploded, "And now… it begins…"

"Now what begins?" questioned Craig, looking worried.

"When Wise Core is destroyed by a card effect, I can summon out Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity in Attack Mode! But you'll still see the full extent of this beast's power on my turn," replied Jacob, pointing to the sky as the white machine rose upon to the field, towering over the over monsters, and the machine contained the same vortex that the Wise Core had. (MEWI 2500/2500)

"I guess I'll end my turn. You're up," ended Craig, staring up at the machine.

Xxxxx

"Oh God! Anyone know what these cards do?" asked Hayley, asking what everyone was thinking.

"If you plan on using Synchros against it, it can be loads of trouble," replied Taniya, having obviously read up on these cards, "But I presume you'll see what I mean next turn."

Jacob drew his card, but didn't notice it; he felt he didn't need the card, just the card he had out.

"Now watch, as my anti-Synchro weapon sets to work, Wisel Infinity can absorb your Junk Warrior, absorb it, and then transfer its power to itself!" explained Jacob, as Junk Warrior attempted to resist and the portal on Wisel Infinity sucked it in, and Junk Warrior's power was transferred to Wisel Infinity," (MEWI 2500/2500 – 4800/2500)

"Junk Warrior…" muttered Craig, before thinking to himself, "That thing has got 4800 Attack Points, even my strongest monsters can't destroy that. This could be over…"

"Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity, take out his Gamma the Magnet Warrior!" attacked Jacob.

The giant machine fired a blast towards Gamma the Magnet Warrior, which was destroyed on impact, and knocked Craig backwards.

Craig: 700  
Jacob: 1400

"Is this all the great Craig Thresher has?" laughed Jacob, sneering at Craig recover.

Throughout the next few turns, Craig played defensive, and Wisel Infinity destroyed Beta, Alpha, Zeta and Omicron the Magnet Warriors, each being smothered with no chance of survival.

"I thought you said you improved your Deck," insulted Jacob.

"I did, and I'll prove it, Jacob. I Summon out Magnetic Synchron in Attack Mode," summoned Craig, as the smaller white Magnet Warrior appeared, as most thought he'd gone insane. (MS 1000/1000)

"If you want to surrender, you can push the surrender button on your Duel Disk," said Jacob, sweatdropping at Craig's weaker monster.

"Well… if you're so clever, you'll know Magnetic Synchron can Tune with monsters on your side of your field, so I'm taking my Junk Warrior back from inside of your Wisel Infinity, and Tuning Magnetic Synchron with Junk Warrior!" explained Craig.

Xxxxx

"Looks like we're going to Domino City after all!" celebrated Bastion, hugging Hayley through the obvious result of this battle.

Xxxxx

A ball of light appeared from Wisel Infinity, and transformed back into Junk Warrior, and landed down on Craig's side of the field, much to the shock of Jacob.

"You've attempted to beat me by cancelling out my Synchros. But that ends now, Magnetic Warrior, come forth!" said Craig, as the much bigger magnet warrior leaped out from the green light and onto the field, and withdrew a sword from its side pocket, "And since Wisel Infinity hasn't got Junk Warrior any more, it reverts back to its original Attack Points, and finally, Magnetic Warrior gains half of the non-Tuner monster's Attack Points that was used to Summon it," (MW 3000/2500) (MEWI 4800/2500 – 2500/2500) (MW 3000/2500 – 4150/2500)

"Wait, that's 4150 against 2500, and I have 1400 Life Points… that means?" figured Jacob.

"It's over, Magnetic Warrior, let's take out that Wisel Infinity!" attacked Craig, just as Magnetic Warrior slashed the giant machine into two symmetrical pieces, then blasting Jacob with the remaining electrical energy it had stored.

Craig: 700  
Jacob: 0

"It's agreed then," said Sheppard, re-appearing into the classroom, "I don't know if anyone realized, but yesterday, the bridge connecting Duel Academy and Domino City was opened; even though it's only supposed to be for deliveries, we're going to be the first to use it tomorrow!"

After the announcement, most were quick to file out, except for a few. Craig walked towards Jacob, who looked down after his defeat, and offered his head, before Jacob slapped his hand away, refusing to accept it.

"You got lucky…" muttered Jacob.

Craig mimicked this in a high-pitched voice and turned around and walked out of the classroom and towards the Slifer Dorm.

Xxxxx

It was the evening before the trip to Domino City, and the Slifer dorm were eating in the canteen. Since Craig had no-one left to talk to in the Slifer dorm, he was sitting on a table at the back of the room by himself.

"Craig?" said Taniya, entering the canteen, as Craig looked up towards Taniya, she continued, "A package just came through for you on the last boat of the day."

Craig slowly got up out of his bench, and walked out of the Slifer dorm towards the package that was outside. Staring at it, Craig saw a fairly large package, more wide then high, taped up all around.

"Has it been checked?" asked Craig, suspicious.

"Why would it need to be checked?" replied Taniya, "It's apparently from your dad."

At this point, Craig walked towards the parcel, and pulled off some of the tape, before eventually opening the entire thing, and then reading the note that was on the inside.

_Craig,_

I'm going away for a couple of months, so I thought I'd send you over an early birthday present.

See you soon,

Dad.

Having read that, Craig opened the remainder of the package up, and stared, mouth open at the contents inside.

"A Duel Runner," said Taniya in awe. Bastion had given Hayley a Duel Runner for her birthday and had his own. Bastion had also been announced by Seto Kaiba himself to have created them.

"How did my dad get one of these? They cost loads," said Craig.

"I had a hand in it," said a voice and they turned to see Bastion and Hayley walking towards them.

"You?" asked Craig.

"Yup, your dad wanted to get you an early birthday present and wrote to me when he heard about the Duel Runners. I spoke to Seto and he sent one over to your dad, at no cost," said Bastion.

"NO COST!" shouted Craig.

"Two reasons, it's a present and you've already paid for it by helping to save the school. In fact, I believe that Seto's exact words were, 'If you're helping to save the world then the Runners are free. If the World is taken over then don't bother to pay because we'll all be dead anyway,'" Bastion chuckled, and the others sweatdropped.

"Seto has a weird sense of humor," said Taniya.

"Yeah, so anyway Craig, Bastion and I are fixing up our Duel Runners in the workshop that Chancellor Sheppard set up, do you want to join us?" asked Hayley.

"Sure thing Hayley," said Craig.

Xxxxx

"Craig, is that a Duel Runner?" asked Flo, walking towards the workshop and staring at Craig on the ground by the Runner, painting over the blue in a white colour. She had seen Hayley's Duel Runner briefly and saw that she was also working on hers and Bastion was fixing a few things on his own. Hayley's had been just pink in the beginning and now it was getting a makeover.

Craig stood himself up and grinned; for a joke he had planted a sign in the ground that stated 'This is a Duel Runner, Kaiba Corp's newest invention. If you want a bigger picture, Google it'. Craig had been prepared for the question, and pointed Flo towards the sign and Flo withdrew her PDA from her pocket and immediately searched it up. Flo read up, and immediately wished to ask no more on the subject, and so walked on, muttering vaguely "Boys…" to which Craig and Bastion laughed and Hayley grinned.

Xxxxx

Craig jumped up from the ground, and stared at his Runner, which he had painted over the blue with a white layer with three red stripes running around the entire bike.

"You finished it then?" asked Taniya, "I'm impressed, it looks good,"

"Thanks," replied Craig with a grin.

"What do you think of mine and Bastion's Taniya?" asked Hayley. Taniya looked at the Duel Runners. Hayley's, having been originally pink was now white with a pink seat that looked like a saddle and had pink designs in the shape of a six sided star on the back. It now had a pink horn protruding from the front with a crown around it and had pink headlights that resembled eyes. All in all, what had started out as a regular motorbike was now an imitation of a white unicorn with pink on it.

Bastion's had been a regular motorbike as well, now it resembled a bird in flight, it was thunder-yellow with black lightning bolts and a black and yellow seat and even had matching wings attached.

"Very impressive," said Taniya.

"I'm calling mine Thunderbird," said Bastion proudly.

"Mine's called Princess Unicorn," said Hayley.

"Both names suit them, what about you Craig?" asked Taniya.

He shrugged, "I'm still thinking about it." Taniya nodded and told them to pack up.

Bastion locked the Runners up in the workshop and he and Hayley went to their dorm. Taniya walked back with Craig and when they arrived back at Slifer he ran up to his dorm. Most of the other Slifers had gone to bed, and those who hadn't were being forced to by Taniya.

Xxxxx

It was the morning of the Domino City field trip, and the coaches that were prepared to leave were stacked together one by one in a line, set to leave. Craig had left the hospital ward just as the morning began, having checked up on James, and set off for the coaches.

Xxxxx

Having survived the coach trip, everyone walked off the coach, most fearing the worst having crossed the newly-built bridge, and almost everyone had gathered around the coaches discussing what was to happen.

"So Bastion, Hayley, what are you guys going to do?" asked Aster.

"Bastion and I are going to go and try earn our Duel Runner licenses," said Hayley, holding Bastion's hand.

"Good luck," said Sartorious.

"License?" asked Atticus confused.

"Yes, you need to be able to drive your runner in any direction and once you can drive it you have to have a test duel so that you know that you can concentrate on dueling and driving," said Taniya.

"Ok, sounds complicated," said Atticus.

"It is," said Bastion and then waving goodbye, he and Hayley walked off with their Duel Runners to where they would hopefully get their licenses.

Everyone else had dispersed from the area, Craig had looked for someone to spend the day with, but everyone he even knew slightly had already left.

"Good to know who your friends are," muttered Craig under his breath, walking towards the city.

Xxxxx

"Favourite colour?" asked Bastion, walking through the city with Hayley, as they joked around asking each other personal things while going to the Duel Runner testing zone.

"No idea, you?" replied Hayley, smirking slightly.

"No idea as well," added Bastion, "We're not very good at this…"

"Definitely."

Xxxxx

Craig entered the card shop, only attempting to take a look around, and check out what was being said when the shopkeeper called out,

"Could Craig Thresher please report to the main desk of the shop please,"

Craig saw no harm in possibly being needed, so he walked up towards the main desk, where he received the information that 'an order had been placed for him'. Craig took the order, it was an ordinary pack of Duel Monster cards; flicking through the six cards, Craig saw none of these cards having any benefit towards his Deck, and was just about to put them back into his rucksack outside when a slip of paper, roughly the same size as a card, fell out. In big writing, the words 'Turn Left' were written across the card. Suspicious, Craig turned his head left slowly, and saw another piece of paper attached to a lamppost, this time reading 'Walk straight, second left,' Reaching the second left, attached to a bin was another piece of paper stating 'Straight to the end of the lane, last alleyway on your left'. Walking towards the end of the road, Craig realized this part of the town was the poorer parts of the town, it had transformed from rich to poor within one street, it was the crime-filled area, the part they had not been told to go down specifically.

Craig walked down the small alleyway, continuously looking left and right on his way down, when suddenly, two lights flashed simultaneously.

"You actually followed the paper? You're thicker than I thought," laughed a voice, which Craig recognized instantly.

Craig activated his Duel Disk in precaution, "If a duel is what you want, then I'm ready,"

"A duel? No… I thought I'd just show you my new trick,"

"What new trick?" wondered Craig.

Suddenly, the pair of lights began moving towards Craig, and began getting faster and faster, and it swiftly passed Craig, who instantly recognized the device. It was a Duel Runner. The Duel Runner was black and had three red stripes circling all the way around it; Craig looked annoyed, how his older brother had got his hands on a Duel Runner? Walking back out of the alley, Craig attempted to look for his older brother once more.

Xxxxx

Someone else who was wandering around on their own, was Chazz Princeton; and due to his stuck-up nature, no-one had any wishes to spend the day with him. Chazz however, had sat down in a café by himself, searching through his Deck in the sign of any improvements.

"Chazz Princeton?" asked the waiter politely.

"What's it to you?" replied Chazz.

"I'm asked to pass this note to you, from the guy sitting in the chair by the table next to the wall," explained the waiter, passing a folded piece of paper to Chazz, who immediately opened it, read it, and stared suspiciously at the person who had supposedly sent it, who had gotten up and left money on the table, and walked straight out of the café, Chazz recognized the person as someone who had purple hair, a blue jacket over a white t-shirt, and black trousers. Chazz did the same, leaving money on the table, walking out and searching for which way the person had left.

Xxxxx

Craig: 3700  
Guard: 0

"Coming through!" yelled Craig, running past the guard, whom he had just defeated, and running up the stairs frantically, deactivating his Duel Disk and looking back on the parked Duel Runner outside, predicting Ryan had gone into the building.

Xxxxx

Chazz, with a blank look on his face, entered the elevator of the building next to Craig's, looking back at the street, with the building next to the one he was about to enter, which had these new 'Duel Runner holding zones' which weren't being used, which Chazz thought was a waste of space. However, he entered the elevator without looking back again and pressed the button that took him to the rooftop.

The lift opened, and Chazz looked straight outside. There was a Duel Field imprinted onto the top, and had been drawn out poorly, by some sort of amateur. On one side of the Duel Field stood the man who had supposedly delivered the note.

"Who are you? What do you want? And why did you send me a note just to get me up here?" asked Chazz.

"Too many questions, but I'll still answer them all. My name is Thunder, I wanted to see if it was true, so I enquired with the note. Only a Key holder would've been so suspecting to follow instructions on a letter," introduced Thunder.

"Surely you could've realized I was a Key holder by the key around my neck?" asked Chazz.

"We have to be sure," replied Thunder, beginning to unzip his jacket, eventually taking it off, revealing a black key, much darker then Chazz's, who cringed at the sight of who was obviously to be his opponent.

Chazz, feeling slight fear, which very rarely hit him, attempted to turn and run, but a wall of black flame blocked his way, which curled around into a circle, trapping both of the duelists inside; as Chazz again cringed at his position.

"Chazz. The only way you can escape here is by defeating me in a duel. When I'm defeated, my key gets destroyed, as do I, and the disappearance of my key eliminates the fire. What's it going to be?" explained Thunder.

"No-one defeats the great Chazz Princeton! You're on," said Chazz with a sudden burst of eagerness, and activated his Duel Disk, attempting to stare down his opponent.

"Let's put that theory to the test then," replied Thunder, activating his Duel Disk.

"Let's duel!" yelled both duelists, Chazz with more flair then Thunder, who simply grinned.

Chazz: 4000  
Thunder: 4000

"I'll begin," said Thunder, "I'll Summon Thunder King Rai-Oh, and then activate Graceful Charity, discarding two and drawing three, then I'll play a face-down to end my turn." (TKR-O 1900/800)

"My turn!" began Chazz, "I activate Ojama Ride, by sending each Ojama Yellow, Green and Black, I can Special Summon three Level 4 or below Union Monsters, so I'm bringing out Y-Dragon Head, Z-Metal Tank and W-Wing Catapult, each in Defense Mode. And then I combine Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank together, to create, YZ-Dragon Tank in Attack Mode," (Y-DH 1500/1600) (Z-MT 1500/1300) (W-WC 1300/1600) (YZ-DT 2100/2200)

Each of the two machines separated into smaller components, and re-arranged to form the bigger tank dragon, which Thunder cringed at seeing.

"Now you're scared, YZ – Dragon Tank, take out Thunder King Rai-Oh!" attacked Chazz, as the head of the dragon slowly opened, and fired a laser towards the Thunder monster, which was destroyed upon impact.

Chazz: 4000  
Thunder: 3800

"And that'll end my turn," finished Chazz, with a look of glee upon his face.

"And starts mine," Thunder began, pulling a card from his Duel Disk, "I'll activate my face-down card, Bit Shoot, which allows me to Special Summon a Reflector Bitin Defense Mode. And I'll also summon out Apocatequil in Defense Mode as well," (RB 0/0) (A 1800/1200)

Xxxxx

Craig ran onto the roof, looking straight in front of him and seeing Ryan on his Duel Runner, looking smug.

"You took your time," joked Ryan.

"Your Duel Runner was at the bottom?" reminded Craig.

Ryan pointed to a small circular device on the side of his Duel Runner, then took out a small remote out of his pocket.

"Teleport device," stated Ryan, as Craig nodded his head, "And really, you've just wasted your time, look over there."

Craig stared in the direction Ryan saw, and looked surprised to see a black circle of fire, which he could see through, and saw Chazz and a mystery opponent. Craig knew what this meant instantly and became distracted and Ryan reversed towards Craig, than accelerating towards the edge of the building closest to the fire, and gaining as much speed as possible before jumping over the small gap between the two buildings, and landing next to the line of fire, just next to Chazz's opponent's side.

"So, why did I come up the building again?" asked Craig to himself.

Xxxxx

"Good to see you, Ryan. How does it go?" questioned Thunder, spotting the Duel Runner through the see-through black colour.

"It goes fine. This is your opponent? He looks weak," replied Ryan.

"I'll show you weak!" yelled Chazz, "I'll switch W-Wing Catapult into Attack Mode, and W-Wing Catapult attacks Reflector Bit, and YZ- Dragon Head also attacks Apocatequil!"

Both monsters were eliminated by the attacks, and both Ryan and Thunder laughed under their breath.

"If you weren't weak, you would've known Apocatequil's ability," said Ryan.

"When Apocatequil gets destroyed, I can Summon Oracle of the Sun from my Graveyard," explained Thunder. (OS 1000/2000)

Chazz was just about to ask about how Oracle of the Sun got in Thunder's grave, but remembered Graceful Charity was activated on Thunder's first turn.

"I'll end my turn there," finished Chazz.

"Once again, it's my turn, and I activate Monster Reborn, bringing back Apocatequil from my Graveyard, and then both these smaller monsters are being sacrificed for the by far stronger monster, Lightning Punisher," said Thunder, as the human-like monster arose, thunder building up in his hands, "Lightning Punisher, take out his YZ- Tank Dragon!" (LP 2600/1600)

The blue-haired human-like monster fired two electrical bolts, one from each hand, straight into both parts of YZ- Tank Dragon, which exploded, and Chazz flew back slightly, but re-gained his posture.

Chazz: 3500  
Thunder: 3800

"I'll end my turn with a face-down," finished Thunder.

"And it begins mine…" muttered Chazz, still staring at the monster that was facing him, "I'm switching W-Wing Catapult into Defense Mode, "Then I'll add X-Head Cannon to my defenses as well," (X-HC 1800/1500)

Xxxxx

Hayley and Bastion had somehow miraculously finished their tests in record time, now they could drive their Duel Runners and Duel at the same time. It had been hard but they both had the balance and driving skills to pull it off the first time round. Bastion's uncle had taught him how to drive a motorbike a few years ago when Bastion had asked him for lessons after seeing him race professionally. Hayley's Amazon training had come in handy, giving her an advantage. After earning their licenses they had gone to a café to celebrate and were just leaving the café, when Bastion looked down at his key, where there was a small beam of light emerging from it, although the beams stopped a few centimeters away from Bastion and pointed in a direction of a rooftop. Spotting this, Hayley recognized that hers was doing the same. In different areas of Domino City, the exact same was happening to Alexis, Hasselberry, Flo and Taniya, and the beams all pointed to the same rooftop.

"Shall we?" asked Bastion getting on his Duel Runner with a grin.

"Let's," said Hayley determinedly, getting on her own Duel Runner. They both started their engines and kicked off, zooming down the streets.

Xxxxx

Thunder drew his card pleasingly, staring down Chazz, who looked slightly fearful, yet willing to continue.

"I'll Summon Electric Virus in Attack Mode, and I'll equip this monster with not one, but two Electro-Whips, each boosting his Attack and Defense by 300," said Thunder, as the small creature appeared from the card, and was holding two whips, both of which larger then it was. (EV 1000/1000) (EV 1000/1000 – 1600/1600)

Chazz cringed, knowing he would be monster-less by the end of this turn.

"Electric Virus, attack W-Wing Catapult; and Lightning Punisher, take out that X-Head Cannon!" attacked Thunder fiercely, as Chazz watched as both his monsters were eliminated from the game, "And then, I'll leave you to have your shot. I end my turn."

Xxxxx

"You all get led here to by some beam?" asked Taniya, spotting all six Key holders standing outside the building. Bastion and Hayley were chaining their Duel Runners to the Duel Runner parking space.

"Yeah, any idea why?" asked Bastion, taking off his helmet, as Taniya replied with a shake of her head.

"Well, there's only one way to find out…" said Flo.

"Forward march!" yelled Hasselberry, as he ran into the building they were outside and up the stairs, everyone else followed behind including Aster, Sartorious and Sarina, who had been with Alexis and Atticus when Alexis' key had begun to glow.

Xxxxx

_'This is it then…'_ thought Chazz, _'If I don't draw a game-changer here, the Chazz is out…'_

"Hurry up and draw a card already," ordered Thunder.

"You can't change a duel like this by simply hoping. Besides, you have no monsters, you can barely get a strong enough monster onto the field," added Ryan, still sitting on his Duel Runner.

As Ryan spoke, his voice gradually got quieter and quieter for Chazz. Opening his eyes, Chazz no longer found himself in the black circle of fire, but found himself outside a temple, his black key glowing, as it pulled him inside the temple, Chazz found himself curious, and so let himself be pulled inside. Inside, Chazz noticed eight massive tablets all in a straight line, all glowing of a colour, one for each of the Key holders, except for one, which was a normal stone, although there was an orange-glowing tiger on it. Chazz assumed that was Taniya's tablet, and that she had already been here during her duel. Chazz was halted in front of the black tablet, where he saw an outline of a dragon, and there was one hole in the tablet, which looked similar to a dragon's claw. Taking a guess, Chazz inserted his key into the hole and listened as he heard a dragon roar ferociously, releasing a glow of light in all directions, forcing Chazz to close his eyes. Opening his eyes again, Chazz found himself in the black circle of fire again, and as his key glowed black, he drew his card.

Xxxxx

"Craig!" yelled Flo, running up to Craig and hugging him, "You're alright."

"I always keep out of trouble," joked Craig, "How'd you get here?"

"All of our keys pointed a beam of light in this direction, but now it's gone…" replied Hayley.

"Must be because you can see the duel now, mine never glowed," pointed out Craig.

Xxxxx

"So, repeat what you said earlier, kid on the motorbike," said Chazz, grinning.

"It's a Duel Runner. I said you don't have any monsters, so you couldn't Tribute Summon a strong enough monster," repeated Ryan.

"Yeah well, take that back. See, if I have a 'Armed Dragon' card in my hand, I can discard my entire hand, along with the Armed Dragon, to bring out the ultimate Dragon…" began Chazz.

"Oh. Good luck Thunder," said Ryan.

"Don't tell me you got one of those cards as well!" yelled Thunder fearfully.

"It's time to Chazz it up! Chazz it up… with the Black Majestic Armed Dragon!" said Chazz, as a burst of black light shone out of Chazz's Duel Disk, and a colossal black dragon appeared onto the field, and let off a ferocious roar that shook Thunder, "Black Majestic Armed Dragon, rock his world by attacking that Electric Virus with Majestic Flame Breath!" (BMAD 3200/2500)

The dragon released a black shot of flame from its mouth, which came close to scorching the miniscule monster.

"Not this time. Activate Negate Attack, blocking your Attack and immediately ending the Battle Phase," retaliated Thunder, as the flame disappeared into a portal.

"Yes, but now, I can activate Black Majestic Armed Dragon's ability. Once per turn, I can give up 1000 of my Life Points, to deal you with 2000 Life Points of damage,"

The dragon released two bursts of flame from his mouth, one smaller than the other, as one hit Chazz, the other hit Thunder.

Chazz: 2500  
Thunder: 1800

Xxxxx

"If Chazz holds out one more turn, he'll win," stated Bastion.

"I'm not sure, Thunder looks as if he'll take this match on this turn now," replied Alexis, spotting the grin on Thunder's face.

Xxxxx

"Chazz, on my field, there are two monsters. One's a Level 7, and one's a Level 3. Now, that equals 10. Which means…" began Thunder, as Ryan began laughing under his breath as well, "If all my monsters on the field have a Total Level of 10, I can sacrifice them all to bring out the last Duel Monster you'll ever see,"

Slowly, the circle of fire closed in around Thunder, and the black Anarchist sign on his mark glowed black, and Ryan's glowed red.

Xxxxx

A mirage of colours appeared in the room, as they all wondered what was happening.

"I'm assuming the Black may be about to Summon a Dark creature; but why didn't this happen during the Orange's duel?" questioned Larke.

"I've no idea," muttered Karādorein, "Blue, try and find out why," he was still slightly sore from his sword fight with Bastion and wanted revenge on him.

Upon saying this, the blue glow from the room vanished, having teleported into Domino City.

Xxxxx

"When the destruction begins, and the circle closes in; the darkness widens and reveals… a world without light!" yelled Thunder, "Dark Black Thunderbird, come forth!" (DBT 3500/0)

The circle threw flames into the air, as a bird appeared, it was the same size as the dragon, flew onto the field, and let off a cry that shook even the people on the ground.

Xxxxx

"Chazz'll survive this turn, though, right?" asked Flo to Craig.

"It depends on what this beast can do…" replied Craig quietly, attempting to figure what it could do.

Xxxxx

"Know what the best part is? I can give my Life Points to Dark Black Thunderbird, so I'll give Thunderbird all of my Life Points except one!" explained Thunder.(DBT 3500/0 – 5299/0)

Chazz: 2500  
Thunder: 1

"But I'll still survive this turn," said Chazz hopefully.

"You wish, Dark Black Thunderbird can also equip itself with Equip Cards in my Graveyard, so I'm giving Dark Black Thunderbird both Electro-Whips that Electric Virus had!" continued Thunder, as the Thunderbird grew in size over Armed Dragon, which looked puny in comparison. (DBT 5299/0 – 5899/0)

Chazz fell to the ground, knowing now that he would only face defeat.

"Dark Black Thunderbird, attack his Majestic Armed Dragon with Thunder Shockwave!" attacked Thunder, as the bird released a ball of electricity in its mouth, before blasting it towards the dragon, which was instantly destroyed, and took Chazz down with it.

Chazz: 0  
Thunder: 1

At that moment, Chazz stared up as he saw a colour crystal appear down from the sky, holding nothing inside it so far. The black fire circle closed in around Chazz, as Thunder slowly edged over to Chazz.

"You lost; now it's time to give yourself up for a worthier cause," said Thunder, bending down to Chazz's level whilst saying it.

Chazz screamed as he was sucked into the Colour Crystal, there was a flash of black light, there; the others saw him, a tiny image trapped in the crystal. Then, something happened; the colour black began to disappear! Everything that was black had its colour drained completely. Hayley and Bastion's keys glowed pink and yellow respectively and their colour stayed, Bastion's pants and hair stayed black and Hayley's hair also stayed black, however Sarina's hair was siphoned of its colour and turned white. Hayley stared at her, poor Sarina. Then Chazz's colour crystal flew up into the sky and both Hayley and Bastion knew that it went straight to Karādorein.

Xxxxx

Chazz's Colour Crystal zoomed into Karādorein's hand. He smirked as he looked at it and then gently tossed it upwards and it attached itself to the giant Crystal in the middle of the ceiling, where Etain was already, Chazz's part of the crystal then glowed black.

"One down… several more to go…" said Karādorein, grinning evilly.

Xxxxx

Thunder walked over to Ryan, where they looked down as both of their signs stopped glowing and Ryan stared over at Craig, who simply stared back, attempting to find a way to get over to Ryan's building.

"Get on," ordered Ryan, "Before he finds a way over."

Thunder clambered onto the back of the driver's seat, and Ryan quickly turned around and began riding down the stairs. Craig ran straight down the stairs on his building, getting to the bottom and watching Ryan drive off, disappearing at the end of the road.

Xxxxx

"Congratulations Thunder, you've proved your worth for us," complimented Karādorein, "But for you, Ryan, you've had many opportunities to take out their Red. Why haven't you done it,"

"I'm waiting for the right moment," muttered Ryan.

"That was the perfect moment!" yelled Karādorein, slamming his fist down on the table, "One more chance, that's all I'm giving you."

Ryan nodded fearfully.

**Xxxxx**

Please review


	12. Feeling Blue

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 12: Feelin' Blue**

Alexis sighed, she'd been feeling upset since Chazz had been captured and it was strange to see the world without black in it.

Bastion and Hayley watched her in concern and Hayley sighed, "Poor Alexis."

"She's taking the loss of Chazz even harder than the rest of us," said Bastion frowning.

"She told me last week that she had feelings for Chazz. She's gotten over Jaden, especially since he joined the Anarchists," said Hayley. Bastion gave a grim smile upon remembering how he defeated Jaden and Karādorein and he put his arms around Hayley who leaned into his embrace. They knew that Alexis would rather be alone for now. Instead Hayley focused on what she and the others had discovered about the past.

Spike had told them that she; Taniya, Bastion, Larke and Jaden were reincarnations of royalty just over a thousand years ago and Craig, Ryan and James were also reincarnations. Their names had been different back in the past, Hayley had been Wisteria, Bastion had been Daichi, Taniya had been Sunny, Craig had been Tai, Ryan had been Takato, James had been Takuya, Larke had been Kestrel and Jaden had been Haou.

In the past, she and Taniya had been Amazon princesses and Larke had been their cousin. She had been betrothed to Bastion when she was a baby but that hadn't mattered as they'd loved each other anyway. Kestrel had been really jealous that Wisteria and Daichi were to be married and had tried to do away with her, wanting to have Daichi for herself. She had failed, as well as failing the Princess Test, a test that only a true princess could ever hope to pass, and had been banished to another dimension. She'd been found by Haou, who had just been prophesized to be the Supreme King and his father had taken her in. Haou had fallen head over heels in love with Kestrel and she used him and his powers to further her own goals in destroying Wisteria, though she did care about him to some degree.

Haou had used his powers to attack their dimension and Princess Sunny, Princess Wisteria and Prince Daichi had called in their most courageous and loyal fighters, Tai, Takato and Takuya. Despite their best efforts the Amazon Empire had fallen and they'd fled to Earth's dimension and under the dying wish of Wisteria and Daichi, both of who had been grievously injured, Spike had gone into hibernation to await the next Princess of Amazons, the reincarnation of Princess Wisteria. Princess Sunny had fallen in battle, but there had been a prophecy saying that when the Princess of Colours, Princess of Flowers, Amazon Princess, Hayley, was born again, the royal line would begin again but only after disaster had been adverted and the evil of Haou and Kestrel had been destroyed for good. Larke hated Hayley because somehow she remembered the past and that was why she'd hated Hayley since everyone in the village could remember. In the past, Wisteria had been forced to destroy her cousin and Daichi had destroyed Haou, at the request of Haou's father, as Haou had become corrupt due to Kestrel's influence and couldn't be stopped.

Hayley suddenly sat up and Bastion looked at her in concern, "Are you alright Sweetheart?"

"No, it's just, I can't stay here and do nothing, this sitting around is beginning to drive me crazy. I've got to get rid of this energy," she said standing up and looking around as though unsure of what to do but wanting to do something. Bastion knew how she felt; he needed to do something too. He looked around and saw their Duel Runners, miraculously; his Thunderbird had not been stripped of its black colour.

"Why don't we go for a ride on our Duel Runners, which should settle us down," he suggested.

"That's a very good idea," smiled Hayley and they put on their helmets and rode off on their Runners, relishing in the speed and freedom they felt and Hayley enjoyed having the wind stream through her hair.

They were laughing in enjoyment when they heard someone shouting and looking at each other, decided to go and see what was happening. They soon came across a boy and a girl taking some kids cards and getting on Duel Runners.

"Hey, stop that, give those cards back!" said Hayley indignantly, she couldn't stand thieves.

"Why should we, Miss Pretty?" asked the girl.

"Stealing is wrong and you should give them back, otherwise we'll make you," said Bastion glaring at her.

"How do ya think ya going to do that punk?" asked the boy.

"A Turbo Duel, the rules are simple, we use all our cards just like in a Ground Duel and we each start with four thousand life points, if you lose then you give those cards back and never steal again and if we lose, then you can keep the cards. It'll be just like a regular duel, except we're on Duel Runners, well, what do you say?" said Bastion.

"I agree," said the girl.

"Me too," said the boy.

"I'm Gina an' he's Dai," said Gina and she started up her Runner, while Dai started up his.

"Bastion, and this my girlfriend Hayley," said Bastion and the couple began racing down the streets with Gina and Dai following.

"Let the wind blow!"

"Let's feel the magic!"

"Let's Duel!"

"Let's Duel!"

B: 4000

H: 4000

G: 4000

D: 4000

"I'll go first," said Bastion, "If I control no cards then I can Special Summon Blackwing – Gust the Backblast from my hand, and I'll summon him in defense mode, then it's time for this monsters effect, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, if I have a Blackwing on the field other than Gale I can Special Summon him from my hand to the field," both birds appeared on the field (B-GB 900/1400) (B-GW 1300/400)

"Since, I've Special Summoned and not Normal Summoned yet I'll normal summon D.D. Crow in Defense mode and play a facedown to end my turn," said Bastion. It was so cool to see his monsters flying next him as he sped along; he was so pleased that his invention was working so well. (D.D.C 100/100)

It was now Hayley's turn, "It's my move and I have a completely new deck that I'm about to use for the first time, let's see how I handle it, shall we? I summon Whitewing – Ape of Friendship in attack mode," (W-AF 1700/1500) A brown ape that stood on it hind legs and had medium sized white wings on its back appeared on the field and Bastion was impressed, she'd managed to obtain the counterparts to his cards.

'_Like Yin and Yang,'_ he thought, watching her next move.

"Then I activate his effect, when he's normal summoned I can pick any card with Whitewing in its name from my hand or deck and special summon it to the field and I choose this one and play him facedown in defense mode, I play one card facedown and end my turn," she said.

"Jus' cause ya both have more than one monster on da field doesn't mean that you guys 'ave won. I summon Mother Grizzly in attack mode and end my turn," said Gina. (MG 1400/1000)

"I summon my monster in defense mode and I end my turn," Dai said.

"Alright then, I play the Field Spell, Mystic Plasma Zone, now all Dark attribute monsters gain five hundred attack points and lose four hundred defense points. I'm going to give my monsters a tune up, I'm going to use Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind to tune with Blackwing – Gust the Backblast and D.D. Crow in order to Synchro Summon Blackwing Armed Wing in attack mode," said Bastion and the humanoid bird appeared on the field, (BAW 2300/1000-2800/600)

"Now, Armed Wing, destroy Dai's facedown monster," said Bastion and grinned as his monster gained five hundred attack points. (BAW – 3300/600)

"Why do he git more points?" asked Dai in surprise.

"It's his effect; he gains five hundred attack points when he attacks a defense monster in the damage step only and during battle between this monster and a defense monster whose defense is lower than the attack of Blackwing Armed Wing I can inflict the difference as Battle Damage to you. So, let's see if your monster has less defense points then Armed Wing," said Bastion and Armed Wing slashed at Dai's monster which turned out to be D.D Coach (100/2000-600/1600) Since it was a dark attribute monster it got the same benefits as Armed Wing.

"Now you lose life points," said Bastion with a grin.

B: 4000

H: 4000

G: 4000

D: 2300

"Now, I'll play this card, a spell called, De-Synchro, now Blackwing Armed Wing returns to my extra deck and Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, Blackwing – Gust the Backblast and D.D. Crow can all come back to my field," said Bastion summoning his monsters back, (B-GB 900/1400-1400/1000) (B-GW 1300/400-1800/0) (D.D.C 100/100-600/0).

"Now Gale, Gust and Crow attack his life points directly!" called Bastion. Dai cried out as he lost all of his life points.

B: 4000

H: 4000

G: 4000

D: 0

"Way to go Bastion, he's out of the duel and that was a perfect one turn kill," cheered Hayley.

"Thanks Angel, I end my turn," said Bastion.

"It's my turn now, first I'll flip summon my facedown monster, Whitewing – Tapir of Honour in defense mode," said Hayley and a black tapir with white wings on his back, sitting down appeared on the field. "Now his flip effect activates, I get to draw two cards and then discard two cards, now I'm going to Special Summon Whitewing – Snow Leopard of Light in attack mode. This card can only be special summoned to my field if I have Whitewing – Wolf of Hope in my hand and then now that Snow Leopard is on the field I can Special Summon Whitewing – Wolf of Hope to the field in attack mode," said Hayley (W-SLL 2100/1300) (W-WH 2100/1300) (W-TH 600/1600)

"They is level five monsters, how come you could summon them?" asked Gina stupidly.

"I just told you, if Wolf is in my hand I can summon Snow Leopard and if Snow Leopard is on the field then I can summon Wolf to the field, they help each other, do you get it now?" asked Hayley and Gina nodded.

"Good, now for Wolf's special ability, when he and Leopard are on the field I gain a thousand life points for each of them and if it's a tag team duel I can give a thousand life points to my partner, here you go Bastion," said Hayley as they both gained Life Points.

B: 5000

H: 5000

G: 4000

D: 0

"Cool, thanks Sweetheart," said Bastion, delighted with the life point boost.

"You're welcome, now, since I Special Summoned that means I can still normal summon so I'll summon Whitewing – Minator of Fierceness in attack mode," A Minator with white wings appeared on the field and roared at Gina. "His ability is that he can't be destroyed by a level four or below monster," said Hayley before she told Minator to destroy Mother Grizzly. (W-MF 1800/1000)

B: 5000

H: 5000

G: 3600

D: 0

"Ya activated Mother Grizzly's effect girly, when she's sent to the grave by battle I can Special Summon one water monster with fifteen 'undred attack points or less ta ma field from ma deck in face up, attack position an' ah choose ma Flying Penguin," said Gina. Hayley wasn't fazed and told Ape to destroy Flying Penguin, who found itself at the mercy of the Reaper of the Cards. (FP – 1200/1000)

B: 5000

H: 5000

G: 3100

D: 0

"Now, Wolf and Leopard, attack her Life Points directly," said Hayley and as both her monsters attacking together had a total of forty two hundred attack points, Gina didn't stand a chance and was defeated.

B: 5000

H: 5000

G: 0

D: 0

"We won, now give back those cards you stole," said Bastion stopping and the two had no choice and gave back the cards. Gina and Dai left and Bastion and Hayley returned the cards to the kids, who thanked them profusely before going home. Bastion and Hayley smiled at each other before Hayley noticed that her key was glowing.

"Bastion, my key…" and she trailed off as she looked at Bastion's glowing key.

"Let's follow them," said Bastion and they mounted their Duel Runners and drove off.

Xxxxx

Alexis sighed, this was awful and she felt awful, first Jaden and now Chazz. Could she ever fall for a guy that wouldn't disappear on her or turn evil? She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she almost got her eye poked out by a paper plane with her name on it. She opened it up, inside was a letter,

'_Alexis_

_If you want a chance at getting the Black Colour Key holder back meet me at the place where a possessed Joey Wheeler dueled Yugi. _

_Beware; if you lose then you will suffer the same fate as he did. Bring your deck and key._

_Frost'_

That was it. Alexis' heart went cold at the thought of losing and becoming like Chazz but she had the chance to get him back so she would do it. She put the letter down, gathered up her key and deck and went on her way to the docks where Joey and Yugi had dueled.

She soon arrived at the docks and saw that her opponent was already there, he had a dark blue key around his neck and was wearing a cap over his brown hair and he had a small brown beard and cold, grey-blue eyes.

"You must be Frost," said Alexis.

"Yeah, and you're lil' Alexis Rhodes, the Blue Colour Key Keeper," said Frost in a Hispanic gangster accent.

"Yeah, I assume you want to duel me?" asked Alexis, taking out her duel disk and slotting her deck into it.

"Ya guessed right, you know the stakes, you lose, blue is drained from the world and ya get trapped into a colour crystal in Karādorein's palace, 'nd if I lose the same happens to me," said Frost, shuffling and putting his deck into his duel disk.

"Let's Duel!"

A: 4000

F: 4000

"I'll go first and I summon Cyber Gymnast in defense mode, then I'll play a facedown and end my turn," said Alexis. (CG 800/1800)

"It's my move and I summon Blizzard Lizard in attack and I end my turn," said Frost. (BL 600/1800)

"Alright, first I'll summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode and then I'll use her to destroy your lizard," said Alexis. (CT 1000/800)

Frost cringed as he lost life points.

A: 4000

F: 3600

"You fell right into my trap, Blizzard Lizard has an effect, when he's destroyed by battle, you lose three hundred life points," said Frost and Alexis felt the pain of losing her life points.

A: 3700

F: 3600

"I end my turn," said Alexis.

"I summon Arrowhead Yargo in attack mode and then I'll tribute it to tribute Summon Blizzard Princess in attack mode, now Princess, destroy her Tutu," said Frost. (BP – 2800/2100)

Alexis groaned in pain as Tutu was destroyed and she lost life points.

A: 1900

F: 3600

"I end my turn," said Frost, grinning evilly.

"My move, I play Pot of Greed, now I can draw two more cards from my deck and now I play the Spell card Red Medicine which increases my life Points by five hundred," said Alexis and her life points rose.

A: 2400

F: 3600

"Now I'll activate my Gymnast's ability, once per turn I can discard a card and then I can destroy one face-up, attack position monster on your field. So say goodbye to your Blizzard Princess," said Alexis and Blizzard Princess was destroyed.

"Now I'll use my facedown, Polymerization to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater to fusion Summon Cyber Blader!" said Alexis. (CB 2100/800)

"Cyber Blader, attack his life points directly," said Alexis and Cyber Blader landed a big hit on Frost and his life points.

A: 2400

F: 1500

"I end my turn," said Alexis, pleased with herself.

"You'll pay for that, lil Alexis, I summon Blizzard Warrior in Attack Mode and then I tribute him to Tribute Summon Mobius the Frost Monarch in attack mode," declared Frost. (MFM 2400/1000) "Now, Mobius destroy her Cyber Blader," said Frost.

"Not so fast, she has an effect, when you have one monster on your field she's not destroyed by battle," said Alexis and although Blade Skater wasn't destroyed Alexis still took some damage.

A: 2100

F: 1500

"I end my turn with a face down," said Frost. He was going to take Alexis down very soon.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile, Hayley and Bastion had met up with Taniya and Craig, whose keys had been leading them in the same direction. Craig, having just passed his Duel Runner exam and obtained his license, rode with them and Taniya turned into her tiger form, preferring that over riding with Hayley or Bastion.

"I hope that however is dueling is ok and they're winning," said Hayley.

"It's either Flo, Hasselberry or Alexis," said Craig.

"I hope it's not Alexis, she's upset about Chazz, she might make a mistake that could cost her the duel," said Bastion and the others nodded and continued following the light from their keys.

Xxxxx

High above the clouds in his palace Karādorein watched the duel with Larke, Jaden, Ryan and the dark purple colour key keeper. Karādorein was also watching Hayley speeding towards the duel with her sister and friends. He glared at Bastion for taking what was his.

'_I will have you Hayley, you will be mine and Bastion will suffer seeing us together before leaving this world for good,'_ he thought darkly and then took notice that the colour blue was flashing in the palace.

"It seems as though Alexis is going to summon her creature," he said.

Larke and Jaden scowled at this, they wanted to see the colour drained from the world, not have one of their own trapped in a colour crystal.

Xxxxx

Alexis put her hand on her deck, ready to draw when doubt crept into her mind, _'Can I defeat him? After what happened to Chazz…I don't know if I can do it. NO, Chazz wouldn't have wanted me to give up, Chazz, this is for you!'_

Alexis felt something and noticed that she was no longer dueling Frost. Instead, she was now standing outside a temple and her key was glowing and tugging towards the inside of the temple. Alexis allowed it to guide her to a room with eight tablets, six were glowing and two were not, they were a tiger and dragon.

'_Taniya and Chazz,'_ she realized and looked at the glowing blue stone that had a picture of an angel Sportsgirl. Her finger was pointing downwards and had a hole in it where her nail should have been. Alexis, knowing what to do, inserted her key into the hole. The temple shook and a female cry echoed around the temple and then Alexis found herself back in the duel. She knew what to do and drew her card and smiled.

"You're in trouble now Frost, I Special Summon Blue Angelic Cyber Sportsgirl in attack mode! This card can only be summoned when I have Cyber Blader on my field and three spell cards in my graveyard," said Alexis and a blue girl with angel wings in a cool high-tech sports outfit appeared on the field. (BACS – 3000/2500)

"She's not affected by spell, traps or monster effects and for each spell card in my grave, she gains three hundred attack points and I have three spells so that gives her nine hundred extra attack points," said Alexis. (BACS – 3900/2500)

"Thirty nine hundred attack points! Shoot!" exclaimed Frost, he was afraid and knew he had to draw his special monster this turn or else he was done for.

"You're lucky that she can't attack the turn she's summoned, so I'll end my turn," said Alexis.

Frost heaved a sigh of relief and drew his card, he then smirked evilly, "You're in trouble now, lil Alexis, for I am now Special Summoning my own colour monster. I can only Special Summon him if I have three Blizzard monsters in my grave and Mobius the Frost Monarch on my field, come on out Dark Blue Bit Frost King!" A huge dark blue man in armor with a crown and holding a staff appeared on his field. (DBBFK - 3000/2200)

"He has several effects, just like your monster, he's not effected by spell, traps or monster effects and each turn he can remove up to three spell cards from your graveyard from play and then he gains six hundred attack points for each spell card, so now remove all your spells from your grave," said Frost.

"Wait, that means my Sportsgirl loses her attack point boost," said Alexis in horror.

"That's right," smirked Frost. Alexis unwillingly removed her Spells and Sportsgirls attack points went back to normal. (BACS 3000/2500) Bit Frost's attack however went up, (DBBFK – 4800/2200)

"Now, Mobius attack, destroy her Blade Skater!" ordered Frost.

A: 1800

F: 1500

"Now Frost King destroy her Sportsgirl! End this duel!" said Frost with a wicked grin and Alexis screamed as Sportsgirl was destroyed and her life points fell to zero.

A: 0

F: 1500

The others arrived at this moment, just in time to see Alexis get surrounded by a blue light and to hear her scream.

"Alexis!" they shouted as a colour crystal flew out of the sky and absorbed her and the colour blue from the world. Every Color Holders keys glowed, preventing their colour from being drained. Alexis flickered in the crystal for a few seconds before it flew away to Karādorein's castle.

"Yeah, that's how it's done," said Frost and he began to laugh when another colour Crystal came down and took away all the dark blue from the world. "Hey, what gives, I won!" shouted Frost.

"_Yes, but now you are of no use to me, just like Thunder,"_ said Karādorein's voice and a Black Colour Crystal with Thunder in it appeared before him. Then Frost was sucked into the Crystal and went away with Thunder.

"What is going on?" asked Craig, asking what everybody was thinking and they saw everything that was dark orange have its colour drained as well.

"_It's simple, Colour Key Keeper, there is a flaw, when you win only my Key Keepers are trapped but their colours aren't taken, they can't be until there is more than one colour taken from your side, now, since you've lost both black and blue, Etain's colour of dark orange, Thunder's dark black and Frost's dark blue also leave the world. Now Taniya must be defeated by the last remaining Key Keeper on my side in order for orange to leave the world. You know, thanks to Bastion, that when a colour duels another colour that colour is not drained, I would need nearly all the colours to do that. Hayley, I'll have soon, we will face each other, as you will be one the last to fall, until then my sweet,"_ said Karādorein voice and Bastion growled and shouted.

"YOU'LL NEVER HAVE HAYLEY AND YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS KARĀDOREIN! DO YOU HEAR ME? WE'LL GET THE COLOUR BACK AND OUR FRIENDS AND WE'LL STOP YOU FOR GOOD!"

He received no answer and only the sounds of the colorless waves were heard. Taniya was troubled, what was she going to say to Sheppard? Two of the most important colours had been lost and already the world looked like a wasteland. This was not good.

The next day everyone took the bus back to Duel Academy, they were all quiet and those with lost colour were miserable.

Xxxxx

"Bastion, what are we going to do?" asked Hayley, petting Empress, whose colours had been spared.

"Nothing, except wait and win, that's all we can do," he said taking her in his arms and kissing her gently before looking out the window of the dorm. Only time would tell what would happen and he prayed that in the end that they would win.

**Xxxxx**

Please review


	13. Not Your Possession

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 13: Not Your Possession**

What with the recent loss of two of their keys and five colours, the six remaining Key holders were now constantly looking in every possible direction, making sure that they couldn't be challenged out of nowhere, although ever since the Domino City field trip, there hadn't been a glimpse of Anarchist activity anywhere. Some, however, were more relaxed than others.

"You still here?" asked Flo, walking over to the workshop of which the school had introduced when the Duel Runners were released, and staring down at Craig, lying underneath his white and red Runner, supposedly 'improving' it, which he had been attempting since they got back from the Academy, "You know, any moment now, an Anarchist could appear and take another one of us down," she said.

"And if they do, I'll be ready," replied Craig, the only one having been in the workshop for weeks, as everyone else was far too focused on the battles they could be facing, Hayley and Bastion both learning new strategies to duel with, with both of them having similar Decks now. It also gave them an excuse for couple time.

"And you know how I've been in Slifer ever since we got here, and you're really the only one I've spoken to," added Flo, as Craig stood up next to the Runner.

"Yes, what about it?" asked Craig.

"I think it's time I started trying to make new friends, so I've organized a duel which, if I win, allows me to be promoted to Obelisk, as most girls are in Obelisk, apart from those who make such a request, like Hayley, who wanted to be in Ra so she could be with Bastion," explained Flo, looking down to the ground as she said this, as Craig looked slightly downcast as well, but eventually looked up again.

"No worries. I'll still see you every day," replied Craig, attempting a smile, as the two of them hugged each other, although the supposed relationship they had had died down over the recent months.

Xxxxx

Hasselberry: 0  
Bastion: 3600

"I believe that makes it 3-0," said Bastion, joking around as Hasselberry rose again.

"I want a re-match!" replied Hasselberry.

"Perhaps another day," Bastion said with a grin, as the two laughed with each other, Hayley standing at the side watching the two fool around.

All three were called back into their Ra dormitories by their dorm head for the night, although Hayley was stopped by Taniya just before she entered.

"You alright, sis? You've seemed a bit… down, ever since Domino City," asked Taniya in concern and Bass growled his agreement.

"Yeah, I've just been thinking about Chazz and Alexis, I mean, what d'you think happens to them whilst they're in the Colour Crystal?" replied Hayley, worried for her friends.

"You don't need to worry about that. There'll be losses over the coming weeks, but the main thing is that we all stick together, that way, we won't lose many more, and this'll blow over before long. Don't you worry, nothing will take down either you or Bastion, I'm sure of it, so you've always got each other," advised Taniya, standing over Hayley and patting her on the back before turning away, "Now I had better be getting back to the Slifers, the last time I left them alone, well, that's another story."

Xxxxx

It was about quarter to four in the morning when Bastion and Hasselberry came charging into the Slifer dorm.

"Major, you might want to see this!" yelled Hasselberry, charging into Craig's room, waking Craig and half of the Slifer dorm up.

"What is it, Hasselberry, Bastion?" muttered Craig, used to being woken up early at Duel Academy.

"It's Flo, I was unable to sleep and I saw Flo outside, near the Ra dorm, seems she was also unable to sleep, the next thing I know she's being dueled by this guy on a Duel Runner, she lost and got hurt by him, she's unconscious," Bastion explained, as Craig immediately awoke, changed under his covers, and ran outside to the spot Bastion had mentioned.

True enough, Flo was there, unconscious, with a few small bruises over her face, as Craig knelt down beside her and felt her forehead.

"She's cold, she must've been out here a fair while," said Craig, "I'll take her to the hospital wing, I can check on James as well."

"About forty five minutes, including the time she spent dueling," said Bastion.

Craig picked Flo up, and placed her arms around his shoulders, and walked towards the Duel Tower.

"What d'you think happened to her?" asked Hasselberry to Taniya, who had arrived on the scene at the same time as Craig.

"I wish I knew, it could be an Anarchist, or it could just be a maniac, whatever it is, it'll need dealing with," replied Taniya, suspicious of the events.

Xxxxx

Craig had left Flo in the hospital wing, and, once the classes had finished for the day, he returned straight away, to find a conscious Flo, and a still unconscious James.

"Good to see you're back up," said Craig, drawing a chair and sitting down on it in between Flo and James' bed.

"Good to see you're here," replied Flo, interrupting Craig before he could open his mouth again, "And before you ask what happened, I seriously have no idea. Everything from last night is blurred."

Craig hadn't heard that, he was staring over at James, realizing something. James also had small bruises on his arm.

"If he's unconscious, how come he's got bruises?" asked Craig quietly, in deep thought over the situation in hand, before coming to no conclusion.

Xxxxx

At around 6 o' clock in the evening Hayley, Craig and Taniya were standing by Craig's Duel Runner, "You know where it happened last time?" asked Hayley, hold Empress, a difficult feat now, the white lion having grown a lot during the year. Hayley had just been filled in on the situation by Craig, no one had told her because they didn't want her to worry.

"Yup, just so happens that Bastion happened to be unable to sleep, and saw the whole incident, thankfully it was by the Ra dorm," replied Craig, strapping his helmet on.

Craig explained that Bastion had been unable to sleep, and had stared outside the window, and had seen Flo walking around, supposedly unable to sleep as well, and had been challenged to a duel by a stocky person on a Duel Runner, and when she lost, she had been struck over the head, which was supposedly what knocked her unconscious. Some wondered why it took so long for her to recover; however, Bastion was quick to the point that he had seen the incident at 3 o'clock in the morning, and she was found at a quarter to four after he had gotten dressed and had woken up Hasselberry for help.

"Speaking of which, where is Bastion?" asked Craig, "He's normally with you,"

"Hasselberry wanted another duel before they had to go in, so I came here quickly as I'd heard about what you're doing, watching Hasselberry fall the same tricks over and over can get tedious, as fun as it is to see Bastion win and I didn't want you to go," explained Hayley.

"Why not?" questioned Craig, stepping onto his Duel Runner.

"Because it may just be an Anarchist, you don't know that Ryan is your opponent yet, it could be a different Anarchist that you don't know about. And if you lose, we're down one more. How do you even know they'll be there again tonight?" she asked, worried.

"Because I don't think they'd injure people for no particular reason, I think they're here for vengeance. And there's only one way to find out," explained Craig.

"You think no-one can stop you?" asked Hayley.

"I think so. I'm doing this for Flo," he said.

"That's where you're wrong," said Taniya, "Hayley told me about what you were planning, and if you leave on that Runner tonight, you'll be cleaning up after dinner every night for the next week."

"If that's an Anarchist out there, then it's for your own good," added Hayley, as the two attempted to persuade Craig off his Runner, he turned on the engine.

"That's two risks I'm willing to take."

Craig drove off on his Runner into the night, as Taniya and Hayley watched him go off, as Hayley looked prepared to go off after him for his own safety, Taniya stopped her.

"He knows what he's doing, if you go after him, you still won't stop him. And I'm certain we'll see him in the morning anyway," explained Taniya, as she went into the Slifer dorm, and Hayley turned and walked back towards the Ra dorm with Empress. She wondered how Spike was doing in his tower, after her birthday, Zelda, Tamera and Tiffany had gone back to the village and Spike had stayed behind.

Xxxxx

Only two minutes after driving off on his Runner, having re-gained the idea of how to drive in the straight line, Craig was able to hear the sound of an engine being started by someone.

"Come on, work!" yelled the person, attempting to get his Runner started.

"And just who might you be?" asked Craig, slowing down nearby the stocky person, getting off his Runner and removing his helmet, "Don't answer that, I'll assume you're the person who's been injuring others."

The stocky person turned around swiftly towards Craig, just as his Runner began, roaring ferociously.

"Name's Kai," said Kai, "You go to this school?"

"Just so happens I do. Tell me why you injured my girlfriend," replied Craig.

Kai laughed maniacally, "If you wish to know, two students from this school defeated two of my friends when you slime visited Domino. Us three are powerful, when we're defeated we swear revenge, we stand by each other and I'm here to defeat every student at this school until I find those two."

"What were your friend's names, and who are you looking for?" asked Craig calmly.

"Gina and Dai, they tell me these students are Bastion and Hayley," Kai growled out.

Craig reminisced to how Bastion and Hayley had spoken about that duel after they went to the city.

Xxxxx

_"Two bullies named Gina and Dai…" began Hayley._

_"We saw them attacking two kids, so we Turbo Dueled them, and defeated them. They didn't put up too much of a fight, if I'm honest," explained Bastion._

Xxxxx

"From what I've heard, your friends are weak," insulted Craig, looking down at smiling at his own insult, as he agitated Kai further.

"Your friends got lucky, unless you're Bastion," replied Kai, not knowing Craig's name yet.

"Name's Craig. And before you get anywhere near Hayley or Bastion, you're going to have to pass me," challenged Craig. "Even if you did manage to pass me you would have to go through Bastion, who is someone you don't want to mess around with especially if you plan on hurting Hayley," said Craig with smirk, it was true, there was evidence in Bastion's defeat of Karādorein.

"You're a fool to challenge me, I'll take you out just like your girlfriend and that other person," said Kai, looking confidently, as Craig looked confused at the mention of the 'other person'; but he wanted this over quickly to get back, and so strapped his helmet back on and jumped back onto his Runner, as Kai did the same, before saying, "I'll assume you want a Turbo Duel, bad move. What are the stakes?"

"I'm not scared of you, if you win, you get my Runner, if I win, you get off this island and never return," said Craig.

"Fine by me," agreed Kai.

"First to the tree over there gets the first move," replied Craig fearlessly, activating his Duel Runner, having strapped his Duel Disk to it earlier, and sped off with Kai. Kai edged the race to the tree, and drew his first card.

Craig: 4000  
Kai: 4000

"My turn first! I Summon Marauding Captain in Attack Mode! And due to his effect, I can activate his effect, and bring out another monster out, like my Hayabusa Knight. And that'll end my turn." (MC 1200/800) (HK 1000/700)

Craig had wobbled for a while on his Runner up until his move, but eventually regained his composure, stared at Kai's field from his Runner's interface, and drew his card nervously.

"I see what you're trying to do, and it won't work. I Summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode, and straightaway, he'll attack your Marauding Captain!" attacked Craig, as the Marauding Captain was destroyed by the force of Beta's lasers, "One face-down, and that's the end of my turn." (BMW 1700/1600)

Craig: 4000  
Kai: 3500

Kai cringed in the fact that Craig had gained an early advantage, however began to laugh quietly when he drew his card, and stared back at Craig behind him, who looked anxious at Kai's look.

"I Summon another Marauding Captain in Attack Mode, which as you know, let's me Summon out another monster, so I Summon Blade Knight, also in Attack Mode," said Kai, as the two knights appeared on Kai's field next to the Hayabusa Knight already there, "I activate the Spell card, The A. Forces. For every Warrior or Spellcaster-type monster on my field, my Warrior-type monsters gain 200 Attack Points each, so that's an extra 600 points each. Marauding Captain, take out his Magnet Warrior!" (MC 1200/800) (BK 1600/1000) (MC 1200/800 – 1800/800) (HK 1000/700 – 1600/700) (BK 1600/1000 – 2200/1000)

The now-grown captain whipped out a sword with speed, and jumped towards the Magnet Warrior, and swung down his sword, however, an invisible force field stopped the attack connecting.

"Negate Attack, stops your attack and ends your turn," explained Craig, grinning slightly.

"Fine, I end my turn," finished Kai, groaning at the failure of his attack.

Craig drew his card, and turned to the Ra dorm as he saw Bastion with his arm around Hayley, standing by one of the windows, with the window open, which made Craig, suspect they knew who this person was.

Xxxxx

"Craig looks like he's in trouble," muttered Bastion.

"He'll get out of it; he's doing it for Flo. If he does fail, we're next in this guy's books," added Hayley, watching the two Runners go past.

"Nothing we can't handle," said Bastion, drawing the love of his life closer to him and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Xxxxx

"I add Gamma the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode, and I switch Beta to Defense Mode as well," said Craig cautiously, "I'll add two face-downs as well." (GMW 1500/1800)

"Coward…" insulted Kai, "I Summon Gearfried the Iron Knight to my offence, and that means all my monsters have an 800 point boost now. Hayabusa Knight, attack his Beta!" (GIK 1800/1600) (GIK 1800/800 – 2000/800) (HK 1600/700 – 1800/1000) (BK 2200/1000 – 2400/1000) (MC 1800/1600 – 2600/1600)

Just as Hayabusa Knight was about to put Beta from one piece into two pieces, the knight was covered in chains, and seemed immobilized.

"Shadow Spell, disables your monster from attacking and decreases it's Attack Points by 700," explained Craig. (HK 1800/1000 – 1100/1000)

"You are incredibly annoying, but nonetheless, Marauding Captain, destroy his Beta, and Blade Knight, destroy Gamma!" attacked Kai, as this time, both monsters were destroyed, with no resistance, "And then, to finish my turn, Gearfried, attack his Life Points directly!"

Craig: 1400  
Kai: 3500

Craig took the blast badly, however, after the attack wore off, and he recovered the position on his Runner, he overtook Kai on his Runner for the first time in the entire duel, and drew his card with confidence, and grinned to himself.

"Now pay attention, because this turn is going to get confusing, first I activate Dark Factory of Mass Production, allowing me to return two Normal Monsters to my hand, so back comes Beta and Gamma the Magnet Warrior. But before anything happens with them, I activate my other face-down, DNA Surgery, one of the two cards I'm borrowing off my girlfriend, and this card lets me change all the Monster's types on the field to which I want, and I choose Spellcaster," began Craig, as each monster had their swords transformed into staffs, and each suit of armor was changed into robes.

"But that means, my monsters don't get their boost any more… All 800 points, gone," moaned Kai unhappily. (GIK 2000/800 – 1200/800)(HK 1100/700 – 300/700)(BK 2400/1000 – 1600/1000)(MC 2600/1600 – 1800/1600)

"But it gets worse, I combine Alpha the Magnet Warrior with the Beta and Gamma I brought back earlier to create your defeat… Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, rise!" summoned Craig, as the three monsters rose into the air, disconnected and reformed into one bigger, stronger warrior. (VMW 3500/3850)

"I'll survive this turn, you haven't won this duel yet," said Kai, looking relieved, which Craig laughed at.

"Wrong, I said I borrowed two cards from my girlfriend, and then, I'll activate the second card I borrowed, Diffusion Wave-Motion! By paying 1000 Life Points, a Spellcaster monster on my field can attack all of your monsters, and due to DNA Surgery, Valkyrion is a Spellcaster," explained Craig further, as a static field formed slowly around Valkyrion.

Kai realized what was about to happen, as his Duel Runner began flashing with 'DEFEAT IMMINENT', as Craig smiled at the groaning and worried Kai.

"You've attempted to come here to get vengeance for your friends, and all you've done is fail. Valkyrion, end this with Magnetic Shockwave!" yelled Craig, as the static field around Valkyrion erupted across the field, eliminating all of Kai's monsters and Kai, who spun out, and crashed his Duel Runner into a tree, which left a large dent in the front of it.

Craig: 400  
Kai: 0

Craig left Kai to recover on his own, and drove back towards the workshop to leave his Duel Runner parked for the night, before he would head back to the Slifer dorm until morning.

Xxxxx

"Major! You might want to see this!" yelled Hasselberry, pushing into Craig's room for the second day in a row.

"Tonight, I just don't think I'll bother sleeping…" muttered Craig under his breath, getting changed again under his covers, "What's up this time?"

Xxxxx

Craig followed Hasselberry, who was walking a bit faster than usual, as if something was up. Within a short while, the two reached the workshop, where Craig thought he had shut the door securely too, which he had. Bastion and Hayley were already there, examining the damage.

"What caused this?" asked Craig, kneeling down beside his Runner, which now had a fairly large hole in the side of it, however, looking inside, no damage was seemingly caused, all the insides remained within the same place they were in the night before. "That's weird. Why put a hole in the side of a Duel Runner and then not do anything,"

Hayley and Bastion were also realizing the same thing, both having easier-to-fix issues than a hole in the side of their Runner, although Bastion realized that the hammer was missing from the toolbox, which was left wide open.

"At least we know what caused it," said Bastion, searching through the box for the hammer.

"You don't think that this was that Kai person, do you?" asked Hayley, remembering watching the duel from the night before and was staring up at Craig, who was now standing up and pacing around.

"No. Having spoken to Kai and seen how he acts, he's more one to put his possessions first, and his Runner's still there by the tree with the dent, so I presume Sheppard called the police in," replied Craig, "But who else could it be…?"

Xxxxx

"Kai was arrested last night, once someone found him. But you're saying your Runners were vandalized in the night?" asked Sheppard. After Craig had seen the damage, Sheppard was the only person who they could go to for any idea on who it might be, considering Sheppard had control of the island.

"I defeated Kai in a Turbo Duel last night, I put my Runner away just before midnight, and the door was still secure when I left," explained Craig as far as he could.

Suddenly, the phone on Sheppard's desk rang. Staring towards Craig and the remainder of those who were originally at the workshop and then back towards the phone, considering whether to pick it up, although eventually doing so. A few seconds later, he put the phone back down again.

"Who was it?" asked Hayley.

"Someone for you, Hayley."

"Me?"

"Yes, they want to see you down at the Ra dorm, apparently they have some information about what happened last night," replied Sheppard, and immediately the door was opened as Craig ran out towards the Ra dorm.

Xxxxx

"Who the heck are you?" asked Craig, reaching the Ra dorm, as Hayley, Bastion, Hasselberry caught up, with Sheppard much further back.

In front of the Ra dorm stood a teenage girl in a white dress, a tiara upon the top of her head, and had hair in a beige colour.

"I'm Princess Rose, and you are not the one I want," replied Princess Rose.

"I am. What is it you've seen?" asked Hayley.

"So many questions. But if you wish to know, last night, I was passing on my boat…" began Princess Rose, which Bastion rolled his eyes at, as she clearly referenced to how rich she was, "And I just happened to see the person who jammed into your little workshop."

Craig clearly disbelieved this story, and was staring at the Princess as if she was some form of idiot, "OK, so you happened to be on your boat after midnight, why? And why is it Hayley you want?"

"Well, I enjoy the cool breeze of the…" continued Rose, which Craig spluttered loudly, saying something in between the coughs which sounded like 'I couldn't care less,', before Rose started again, "And as for why Hayley, I've heard rumors that she's supposedly a 'Princess' of some kind, so I'd like to see if she can duel like one," said Rose, snootily.

"Imbecile," said Craig sharply towards Rose, showing the fierce dislike he already had for her, "You want to duel someone due to their supposed title?"

Rose ignored this comment, and continued to stare towards Hayley.

"If I win, you say you'll tell us who attacked the workshop?" asked Hayley, determined to show this bratty princess what a real princess was.

"Of course. If I win, I'll leave here however knowing that I've defeated yet another form of royalty," replied Rose, as Craig rolled his eyes.

"I'm not too sure about this…" muttered Bastion, he really disliked this girl.

"She looks innocent, I think. She's not an Anarchist, so it should be alright," replied Hayley, still remaining cautious, yet stepping a few steps closer to Rose and equipping her Duel Disk and placing her Deck inside.

Craig was just about to interrupt the situation and say his doubts at the possible danger in this duel, as no-one really knew whether Rose was dangerous or not, although he remembered how last night he had gone off on his Runner to duel someone who had already injured one person; so he decided it was best to keep his mouth shut. Rose also equipped her Duel Disk, and placed her Deck inside.

"You ready?" asked Rose.

"Of course. Let's feel the magic!" replied Hayley, as both duelists drew their five cards.

Princess Rose: 4000

Hayley: 4000

"It's my move first," said Hayley, "And I'll bring out Whitewing – Minotaur of Fierceness in Attack Mode, and to finish off, I'll play a face-down card." (W-MF 1800/1000)

Out came the Minotaur, with white wings on his back and a ring in his nose, he snorted as he stared towards the Princess. Craig, Hasselberry and Sheppard stared towards these monsters in confusion, all witnessing the monsters for the first time, none having seen Hayley duel with this Deck before.

"Interesting… I've heard of these Whitewing monsters slightly before, in reply, I'll place one monster face-down in Defense Mode, and that'll be all," said Rose, smirking at the move she had made, supposedly planning something.

During Rose's turn, Craig's head suddenly rose straight, as he stared towards the Duel Tower.

"I think I've got an idea, I'll be back as soon as possible," replied Craig, as Hasselberry nodded as Craig ran towards the tower.

"It's back to me, and for my turn, I'll first Summon out Whitewing – Dolphin of Knowledge in Attack Mode, and straightaway, it'll attack your face-down card!" attacked Hayley, as the grey dolphin with white wings on its back speared it's head through the card, which turned out to be T.A.D.P.O.L.E(0/0). (W-DK 1800/900)

"Well, that worked for you. Not," began Rose sarcastically, "When my T.A.D.P.O.L.E is destroyed, I get to bring another one to my hand."

Xxxxx

Craig ran back into the hospital wing, even though Flo had been released that morning, but Craig wasn't looking for Flo. Instead, he stood next to James' bed, and looking under it, Craig found a hammer, before groaning to himself, and walking out the room towards the workshop, before he would return to the duel. Craig knew who had done it, although he didn't know how.

Xxxxx

To anyone looking at the field, Hayley had the clear advantage, and she still had an attack remaining. Rose, however, thought differently, her facial expression made it seem as if she was winning.

"Minotaur, attack her directly!" said Hayley, as the minotaur jumped heftily towards Princess Rose, and swung an axe into her side, which, by Rose's reaction, looked as if it hurt a fair bit.

Rose: 2200  
Hayley: 4000

Hayley ended her turn, smiling at her lead; Rose drew, not fazed by losing, and smiled at her card.

"So, you may be winning, but whatever to that! I activate Frog Resurrection, so by discarding the T.A.D.P.O.L.E in my hand, I can bring the same card from my Graveyard, so return T.A.D.P.O.L.E!" began Rose, as the tadpole reappeared, swimming around on the floor, "And then, I'll sacrifice that monster to Summon out Des Frog in Attack Mode!" (T 0/0) (DF 1900/0)

The tadpole slowly transformed into a large frog, which croaked when it evolved onto the field.

"And due to Des Frog's effect, I can Summon out more Des Frogs from my Deck equal to the amount of T.A.D.P.O.L.E's there are in my Graveyard, so outcome another two Des Frogs," continued Rose, as two more of the same frogs appeared.

At this moment, Craig had walked back into the scene, took a look at the playing field, particularly Rose's.

"How is there four Princess Rose's all of a sudden?" joked Craig, smiling slightly at his own joke.

"I don't get it," replied Princess Rose.

"You know, three frogs, one Princess Rose, four Rose's… I called you a… No, wasted humor," said Craig, not bothering to explain his own joke.

"You're not funny. Continuing my turn, I activate Des Croaking, as long as I have three 'Des Frogs' on my side of the field, I can destroy every last card on your side of the field," said Rose, as all three frogs fired gas over to Hayley's side of the field, which slowly began to eradicate her monsters.

"I activate my face-down, Threatening Roar! This means you can't declare an attack this turn," retaliated Hayley.

Rose ended her turn, and if Hayley didn't come up with something quickly, then she knew that the three frogs would be only happy to obliterate her remaining Life Points, and although there was nothing to lose, she knew there was no point going down easily.

"My turn!" said Hayley, drawing her card, "Because I have no cards on my Field, I can Special Summon the Tuner monster Whitewing – Dragon of Power, and then I'll also Normal Summon this cute little guy, Whitewing – Lemur of Playfulness. And I think it's time to do some Synchro Summoning. Watch as I combine the Level 4 Dragon of Power with the Level 1 Lemur of Playfulness. Come on out, Whitewing – White Tiger of Steel, and due to its effect, it gains 700 Attack Points," The dragon that had appeared on the field was gold in colour and its wings were white, the lemur was small, brown and looked extra cute with the small white wings on his back. The Tiger was impressive, he was a white tiger with black stripes, sharp claws and looked very solid and had a steel collar around his neck and his wings were bigger than the other Whitewings. (W - WTS 2300/1500 – 3000/1500) (W – DP 2000/300) (W – LP 200/2000)

Xxxxx

On the side, Craig grinned at Hayley Synchro Summoning, even with her new Deck; she was still Synchro Summoning consistently. Hasselberry was continually yelling the army references, apparently Rose was now 'on the retreat', and Sheppard was in awe of the skill of his Key holders. Bastion was smiling; he knew that Hayley had won.

Xxxxx

The white tiger jumped into the air and landed on the ground with a thud that shook the ground, and let out a huge roar.

"So what, it's not over yet," said Rose, adamant that she would still win this duel. How dare this girl try and beat her, she didn't even dress like a princess.

Hayley turned over the next card in her hand around, a spell called Whitewing Power.

"This means you lose 500 Life Points for each Whitewing in my Graveyard, and there's four," explained Hayley, as the spirits of the Whitewings were released from Hayley's Graveyard and flew towards Rose, each passing through her and supposedly damaging her.

Rose: 200  
Hayley: 4000

"Sorry Rose, Tiger, attack her Des Frog and finish this," attacked Hayley, as the tiger bounded towards the frog, ran straight through it and into the princess.

Rose: 0  
Hayley: 4000

"The magic has ended," finished Hayley, receiving a hug and a quick kiss from Bastion in the process, as Rose looked down at her defeat, "So, you said you knew something about the vandalism?"

"There's no need," replied Craig, "I know who did it."

Sheppard immediately turned his head towards Craig, he was eager to find out what, or who had caused the damage. Craig saw this and turned back to Sheppard.

"James Thresher," told Craig, "Well, it's his body, but he's sort of… brainwashed, like he was in the duel I did against him. It's still the same person possessing him."

Xxxxx

The five of them, Craig, Hayley, Bastion, Sheppard and Hasselberry stood over James' bed, as Craig went over how he knew it was James.

"You see, during Hayley's duel this morning, I found a hammer under James' bed, and we know that the hammer was missing from the workshop. Plus he had bruises the same night Flo got some, and Kai said he knocked over two people, so perhaps Ryan tried to get James to vandalize the Runners the night before he actually did. Now, I know the key disappeared after the duel appeared, but perhaps there's still something that can give Ryan that connection to him," began Craig.

Craig searched through James' Deck, which was placed on the side desk, and found a blank card in it, although ignored it and placed it back in the Deck. Flo, having been released earlier that morning, had found them and had appeared in the doorway just as Craig had began explaining his idea.

"That was perhaps the most intellectual words I've ever heard you speak," joked Flo.

"Because it's important," said Craig back, grinning towards Flo, "You wanted a duel to get yourself up to Obelisk, yes?"

"Correct," replied Flo.

Craig stared down towards James, and then stared back towards Flo.

"I'm presuming Ryan corrupts him when he wishes to. If I find a way to draw Ryan in, you up for dueling James? You'll be at no real risk, he hasn't got an Anarchist key anymore, so he can't do any harm. And if you defeat him, perhaps it'll break the final connection," said Craig.

"Excellent, where do I sign up?" replied Flo, looking up for the duel.

Sheppard showed his nod of approval to the duel, as Craig turned down to James, and back towards the remainder of the group.

"Brilliant. Well then, let's roll," said Craig, running out of the room in an attempt to search for something that would persuade Ryan to brainwash Craig.

Xxxxx

The next day, a fair amount of the school had turned up for Flo's promotion duel with James, although it looked as if Ryan wouldn't be tempted to come along, as he had found nothing.

"So, where's Ryan supposed to be?" asked Flo, "It doesn't look like he's showing up."

"I don't want to worry you, but Ryan's been here for a few days," replied Craig, "Hasselberry, again out for a run, told me he'd seen his black Runner down by the beach,"

"Why would he be here? And how does that mean he'll be up here?" questioned Flo, still concerned over Craig's plan.

What with the Duel Runners being destroyed by the possessed James a few nights before, and as James was the only remaining person in the hospital, the door was locked from the outside as an emergency precaution for that night, so there was no escape if Ryan possessed him again, and no harm would be done if he remained within the coma. In the morning, they had brought James into the Duel Field and laid him down on one side. If Ryan was to possess James, he was already placed in a duel situation, although Craig felt this wasn't exceptionally fair on his little brother to be immediately placed within the situation, he reluctantly agreed that it was for the best.

"Perhaps he's here for me, I'll presume he's the Red Anarchist, or he could be able to get some form of connection with James if he's close," guessed Craig.

"Stop trying to act so intellectual," joked Flo.

"OK, fine. I have no clue why he's here. But if he is here, he'll definitely have heard about it, the school announced it yesterday, and people have been talking about this a fair bit, you're a Key holder after all," said Craig.

People had been filling in for a while, and down on the front, were all of the remaining Key holders and some more friends of Flo. Along the front were Hayley, Bastion, Taniya, Hasselberry and Syrus. Sheppard was right down by the field, along with Crowler, and they were just waiting for any inclination that Ryan had control of James. Suddenly, a twitch came from James' hand, which not many people around the area saw, Flo, however, recognized the twitch, as Craig turned around

"Best of luck," said Craig, placing his hands around Flo's waist and kissing her, before running back to the front and clambering over to the seats where the remainder of their friends were, enduring the ribbing he received from his friends.

Xxxxx

James now fully stood up, and stared directly towards Flo.

"Welcome, Key holder," said James, who seemed to be speaking with two voices, his own, and seemingly Ryan's.

"Morning James, and Ryan," replied Flo, "Yes, we know it's you Ryan, and we'd like to ask, how are you still controlling James?"

"His Dark card, that blank card. When an enemy, such as a Key holder looks at the card, it appears blank. It's a smart manoeuvre of Karādorein's, a cloaking device, only an Anarchist can truly see it. Whilst the Dark card remains in James' Deck, there's a link there that allows me to use my Anarchist key to possess him through that card,"

Xxxxx

"That figures…" muttered Craig.

"Could we not just take the card out of his Deck right now?" asked Hasselberry.

"We could, but Ryan would probably be prepared for that. And Flo needs a duel to get to Obelisk," replied Craig.

Xxxxx

"Now that all of the pre-match explanations have finished, let's begin!" yelled Crowler, jumping up onto the stage with his microphone, looking rather strange in a white coat instead of blue, since he wasn't a Key Holder his colours had been drained, "In the red corner, we have Flo Smith, a Slifer attempting to beat her way up into the Obelisk dormitories! And in the blue corner, we have James Thresher, a young duelist who's supposedly possessed by an Anarchist!"

"Umm… Crowler, I don't think you're meant to scare the students… Some of them fear the Anarchists, having seen those great, big monsters," said Sheppard, as Crowler guiltily crept back down next to the Duel Field; hoping no-one realized his mistake.

Xxxxx

"Shall we?" asked James.

"Let's," replied Flo, as both activated their Duel Disks, and drew their five cards.

Flo: 4000  
James: 4000

"I'll go first…" said James, "Time to destroy you… Varion Hapt, come on out in Attack Mode! That'll be all for my first turn." (VH 1800/800)

"Straight into the game, I activate Dark Magic Curtain. By getting rid of half my Life Points, I can Special Summon out one Dark Magician," said Flo. (DM 2500/2100)

The curtain slowly emerged onto the field, opening out and revealing the purple magician who jumped swiftly onto the field, pointing the staff he held in his hand directly towards James, as Flo smiled at the early advantage.

Flo: 2000  
James: 4000

"You think you've got an advantage. Correct, you've got the stronger monster, but you've already lost half your Life Points," reminded James, as Ryan's laugh came through over James' voice when saying so.

"Hold yourself. I activate Thousand Knives, as long as I have a Dark Magician on the field, I can destroy one of your monsters," activated Flo, as the machine on James' side was taken down through the knives, and the path towards James' Life Points was open, and the Dark Magician stared and grinned towards James, "Dark Magician, attack him directly, Dark Magic Attack!"

The magician jumped itself into the air, spun his staff around in his hand, before pointing it directly towards James, and firing a quick blast of magical energy, hit James directly, as he fell to the ground, his own eyes appearing for a moment as Ryan seemed to leave him for a moment just so he wasn't hurt by mistake, although the moment he stood back up, he was possessed once more by Ryan, who laughed at Flo's attempt.

Flo: 2000  
James: 1500

"It's hilarious how you're attempting to hurt Ryan, but you're only damaging James," laughed James, Ryan's voice again speaking more than James.

Xxxxx

The group watched closely from the sideline, as the field swung massively in Flo's favor, as she remained the only person that controlled a monster, whereas if James didn't bring something out within the next turn, Flo would be in the clear position to win the duel.

"Flo's got in the bag! The enemy's on the retreat as we speak!" cheered Hasselberry.

"Don't count the victory yet. James is dueling under an Anarchist, so he'll have something prepared," replied Taniya with her arms crossed.

From the other side of the Duel Field, standing on the balcony right towards the roof of the building, Bastion spotted a certain person just as the corner of his eye.

"Craig… Is that…" muttered Bastion, leaning slightly towards Craig and pointing at the figure he recognized.

"Oh, you are brilliant, Bastion," said Craig, recognizing the figure as well, standing up and walking out towards the door of the Duel Field to work his way around.

"Who was it?" asked Hayley, sitting on the other side of Bastion.

"You'll see…"

Xxxxx

"To end my turn, I'll play a card face-down," finished Flo.

"I can't do much for my turn, but I'll activate Double Summon, letting me Summon two monsters this turn, so I'll just lay a face-down and Summon out Varion Cube and Vairon Vanguard, both in Defense Mode," said James, looking fairly agitated at the position he was in. (VC 800/800) (VV 1400/1000)

"There's not much more you can do," began Flo, "To add to my field, Herald of Creation in Attack Mode, and straight away, it'll attack your Cube!" (HC 1800/600)

The robed Spellcaster came onto the field, and immediately fired a magical blast of energy towards the cube from its staff.

"Fool, you forgot about my face-down. I activate Urgent Tuning, allowing me to Tune monsters during my Battle Phase. So, Tuning together the Tuner monster Vairon Cube and my other monster Vairon Vanguard, I'm going to create the defensive wall that your Dark Magicians wouldn't dream of entering…" retaliated James, laughing at the two monsters jumped into the green tunnel of light, "So now, meet the true Delta monster, Vairon Delta, in Defense Mode, which now takes your attack and hits you straight back." (VD 1700/2800)

The machine appeared out of the tunnel, and the original attack from Herald of Creation was rebounded straight back towards Flo swiftly, so she quickly knocked to the ground from the attack.

Flo: 1000  
James: 1500

Xxxxx

"Vairon Delta… Ryan used this card before when he dueled Craig, and Craig only got rid of it by Ryan separating it himself," remembered Hayley.

"Flo's got a duel to finish quickly, if she can't get through that Delta, then it's only a small matter of time until James brings out the Dark White Titan again," added Bastion.

Xxxxx

Craig walked quickly on the balcony towards where Ryan was, who had his eyes closed, not seeing Craig approach.

"What are you doing?" asked Craig, showing a slight sign of anger that Ryan was still after James.

Upon hearing Craig's voice, Ryan opened his eyes and starred towards Craig, and faced him, placing his hands in his pockets, "I'm possessing our little brother, remember? Bet you wish you hadn't left me all those years ago now."

"That Karādorein has possessed you to believe that, we didn't leave you, we stopped you from turning insane," argued Craig.

"How you've changed, trying to act mature and clever, although all you're doing is showing your anger," taunted Ryan.

Xxxxx

James had stopped stationary on the field, before looking back up towards Flo; James had his normal eyes returned for the first time in a while.

"Flo? What're you doing here? Where are we?" asked James, looking at his surroundings, "And why are we dueling?"

"It's a long story, basically, Ryan took over your mind and forced you to duel me, but it's all very obscure to us all right now," explained Flo, relieved that the real James was back.

Xxxxx

"Funnily enough Ryan, I've had one of my brothers converted into a madman, and the other converted into bait. So, yes Ryan, I am slightly angry," said Craig sarcastically.

"You say converted as if James didn't have a choice," replied Ryan.

"He didn't. You stole him and dragged him into your control. Now I'm ordering you to let him go now!" ordered Craig, staring towards Ryan who simply laughed.

"You want him back quickly? Fine, I'll finish this duel now," joked Ryan, closing his eyes again, and Craig presumed he was.

James suddenly stared back down towards the ground, and when he raised his head, the red shade in his eyes appeared once more.

"You think you could get him back? Wrong, it's my turn, and I draw!" began James again, as a large grin appeared on his face, "This is over."

Flo cringed slightly on the look on James' face, knowing what was about to be played.

"By sacrificing a Level 7 or higher monster, and then giving up half my Life Points, I can Summon the end of this duel…" said James, as the circles of power began expanding around the Duel Field, as the Vairon Delta vanished into the fire.

Flo: 1000  
James: 750

"When the destruction begins, and the circle closes in; the darkness widens and reveals… a world without colour!" yelled James cheerily, as the fire closed back in and the mighty creature from before appears in its place, "You've tried, but you've also failed, meet Dark White Titan!" (DWT 2800/2800)

The large titan from before appeared on the field, shocking many of those inside of the stadium, fearing the sheer size that the creature had.

Xxxxx

"No, I didn't mean give him back by destroying those who are still with me," complained Craig, as Ryan opened his eyes once more.

"You can't have everything, you made sure that happened to me," replied Ryan, staring at Craig before closing his eyes again.

Xxxxx

"Dark White Titan, attack her Herald of Creation and crush her final hopes!" attacked James, as everyone in the duel field stared at the field carefully, watching the attack, as the Titan brought his fist down, forcing smoke to cover the field, before revealing three hats.

"Before you completed your attack, I activated Magical Hats, concealing each of my monsters in a separate hat, playing a game of chance whether you hit my monster or not. You lose this round," said Flo, staring towards James' facial expressions, which resembled someone who wasn't very happy, "And so, for my turn, I'll sacrifice my original Herald of Creation, and Summon Dark Magician Girl under one of the hats. And to finish, I'll activate Spell Absorption, now every time you activate a Spell Card, I gain 500 Life Points." (DMG 2000/1700)

"A desperate move… First, I activate Rush Recklessly, giving Dark White Titan an extra 800 Attack Points this turn, so if I hit a monster, it's over!" activated James, as the titan grew larger than it already was, and Flo gained the 500 Life Points due to Spell Absorption, "Titan, eliminate the middle hat!" (DWT 2800/2800 – 3600/2800)

Flo: 1500  
James: 750

Xxxxx

"If this hits, it's over…" muttered Craig, remaining next to Ryan, who again opened his eyes.

"Just enjoy the view, it'll be a… blast," joked Ryan, laughing under his own breath, as Craig ran his hands through his hair in slight fear.

Xxxxx

"Surely, I hit, I must've hit…" claimed James, as Ryan possessed him once more.

Again, the smoke filled the field, before it slowly cleared and…

Xxxxx

"What's happened?" asked Syrus, attempting to get a better view, and repeating just what everyone else in the entire stadium was saying.

Xxxxx

The field cleared, and Flo remained standing, hardly able to believe her own luck, and laughing under her breath at Ryan's misfortune.

"Nonetheless, you have one turn, as next turn, I guarantee I'll hit," reminded James, stopping Flo from laughing as the realization hit Flo.

_"OK Flo, so you have got one turn, but never mind, you've got a card that can end this,"_thought Flo, staring at her hand.

Xxxxx

"This just isn't your day," said Craig, as he turned around and walked off.

"This isn't over. The next time will meet, one of us will fall. I'll make sure of it," replied Ryan, letting James go for a moment to give the message, before closing his eyes and taking control yet again.

Xxxxx

"I remove Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl from the hats that they're under," said Flo, startling a few people in the stadium, as James now had a choice of which monster he could eliminate, "Don't worry though, because by sacrificing them both, I can Summon a monster more powerful than your Titan… meet, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic!" (SDM 3200/2500)

The two magicians were swiftly replaced by the wizard in black robes, energy covering his staff, as the magician stared up towards the Titan.

"Sorcerer of Dark Magic, attack the Titan with Ultimate Dark Magic Attack!" attacked Flo, as the magician followed Flo's lead, and fired a powerful blast of magic towards the large titan, hitting it directly. Many looked up, thankful that the titan was about to be destroyed.

Flo: 1500  
James: 350

Everyone at this moment was stood up and cheering for the destruction of the Titan, although it remained standing despite the blast it took from the magician, as many in the area began wondering what was going on.

Xxxxx

Craig sat down back where he originally was before he left, and ended the abrupt confusion among the group.

"Remember. The Titan can't be destroyed by battle," reminded Craig.

"Of course. How was it?" asked Bastion and Hayley listened to the conversation while keeping one eye on the duel.

"The same as Ryan'll always be until he's defeated. I guess the only way to get James back is for Flo to win," said Craig.

Xxxxx

"I didn't forget that your Titan would be destroyed by battle, that's why I was prepared. I activate Monster Reborn, returning Dark Magician to the field," said Flo, as the purple magician emerged from the ground, and stood next to the Sorcerer of Dark Magic, looking a worthy force to fight against. (DM 2500/2100)

"So what? It can't attack until next turn. And it's still too weak," replied James, grinning at Flo's failed attempt.

"It doesn't need to attack. The duel's over, and so is your control, Ryan. I activate Magical Blast, and for every Magician I have on my field, you now lose 200 Life Points, taking you down to… 0," said Flo.

The two magicians began preparing an attack in their staffs, before merging the attacks into one, lowering their staffs to face James, letting the blast go directly towards James, as he fell to the ground from the attack.

Flo: 1500  
James: 0

Xxxxx

The moment James fell to the ground, Craig leapt over the barrier that led up onto the Duel Field, ran over to James on the ground, took the Dark card off his Duel Disk, and staring up to where he saw Ryan earlier, tore the card in half. James opened his own eyes for the first time and slowly rose back up onto his own feet.

"Good to see you again," said James, hugging his older brother, the two laughing at the madness of the events.

"You too," replied Craig, "Sorry, but Ryan's going to be around on this island again probably, so we'll have to send you back home to Dad for your own safety. He got back yesterday from his little trip thing," said Craig sadly.

"Getting rid of me that quickly?" asked James jokingly.

"You're too young to be here. But you might be able to get here next year, apparently they could be opening up a few spaces for kids a year younger than the normal freshmen age," explained Craig.

"I'll look forward to the opportunity," said James, walking off with Sheppard to his office to arrange his departure.

Flo walked up from behind Craig, and the two smiled at each other.

"You did great," complimented Craig, facing Flo.

"You're going to miss him, aren't you?" said Flo.

"I haven't spoken to him in years, but he'll be fine back home. I'm just glad this is all over," replied Craig.

Xxxxx

"This isn't over," said Ryan, opening his eyes due to the connection between him and James being broken, before teleporting out of the area.

**Xxxxx**

Please Review


	14. Blackwing Master! Karādorein strikes bac

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 14: Blackwing Master! Karādorein strikes back!**

Karādorein sat on his throne, staring at a portrait of Hayley. Larke and Jaden looked at him and shook their heads; he'd been sitting there for several days now, just staring at the portrait.

"Think we should snap him out of it?" muttered Jaden to Larke.

"Are you crazy?" whispered back Larke, wondering how she'd fallen for Jaden in her past life. Jaden thought about what would happen, turned pale and decided to keep quiet.

"Jaden!" Karādorein's voice cut through the silence.

"Yes Master," said Jaden.

"Bring me the mirror, I want to see what my princess is doing," ordered Karādorein.

"Yes Master," said Jaden and went to fetch the mirror. He came back with a large ornate mirror on wheels and set it in front of Karādorein and returned to Larke's side.

"Show me Princess Hayley," said Karādorein to the mirror, the surface shimmered and Hayley appeared in it.

_She and Bastion were sitting on the grass staring up at the colorless sky, her head on Bastion's chest. He was running his fingers through her hair and she was smiling in contentment._

"_I love you Starsong," whispered Bastion to his love._

"_I love you too, my Blackwing Knight," she whispered back with an adoring gaze at him._

Karādorein snarled and pushed the mirror away, causing it to go back to normal.

"GET BLAZE AND TELL HIM TO DESTROY BASTION!" he screamed at Larke and Jaden who jumped and ran to do as their master bid.

"I will have her for my own, today Bastion will become one of my Colour Crystals!" vowed Karādorein, clenching his fist, he would have her, make no mistake.

Xxxxx

Unaware of Karādorein's wrath or that Bastion was in danger the two teens watched the clouds scurry by. There was hardly anyone around today; most students were studying for the upcoming exams, including Flo. Bastion, being the genius he was had already studied and so had Hayley and they were taking some well-earned time off. Craig had come down with a cold and was in the infirmary and so was Hasselberry, due to a leg injury thanks to a rough soccer practice and Taniya was busy creating exam questions. It was peaceful, until a burst of flames appeared to their left, disturbing the peace.

"What the heck!" cried Bastion, Hayley getting off his chest and they scrambled up off the ground. The flames didn't spread, instead a boy walked out of them, he had red hair and glasses and the Dark Yellow Key around his neck.

"You're Bastion Misawa?" he asked and Bastion nodded.

"I'm Blaze and I'm your opponent. Mater Karādorein isn't happy with you touching his princess," said Blaze, activating his duel disk.

"I'm not his princess!" objected Hayley loudly.

"How dare Karādorein say that, he has no right!" exclaimed Bastion and his key glowed, dressing him in the same attire and gaining the sword and the same duel disk when he's dueled against Jaden. He slotted his deck into his disk and activated it.

"You know the stakes," said Blaze and Bastion nodded.

"Let's Duel!"

"Let the wind blow!"

BM: 4000

Bl: 4000

"I'll go first and I summon Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain in attack mode, then if I control a Blackwing other than Blackwing Bora the Spear I can Special Summon Blackwing - Bora the Spear from my hand and I summon him in attack mode, next I'll play a facedown and end my turn," said Bastion. (B-FSC 500/800) (B-BS 1700/800)

"I draw and I summon Barrier Statue of the Inferno in defense mode and he has an effect, no monsters but Fire monsters can be special summoned," said Blaze with a grin and then played the trap Backfire. It was a continuous trap that inflicted five hundred points of damage to the opponent's life points when a fire monster on his field was destroyed. Blaze then ended his turn. (BSI 1000/1000)

"Alright then, I summon Blackwing - Jinn the Dry Wind in attack mode and now I'll activate Fane's special ability, he can attack your life points directly," said Bastion, deliberately not using Bora to destroy Blaze's Barrier Statue, he wanted him to see Fane's effect and show that he could get around his defenses. (B-JDW 600/500)

BM: 4000

Bl: 3500

"Way to go Bastion!" cheered Hayley. Bastion smiled at his girl before commanding Bora to destroy Blaze's monster.

BM: 3500

Bl: 2800

"Why'd I lose Life Points?" grunted Blaze in pain.

"It's Bora's ability, if he destroys and monster in defense mode the deference between his attack points and your monsters defense points are dealt as damage to you," said Bastion, not really minding that he lost a few life points due to Backfire's effect, Blaze was taking more damage than him then he commanded Jinn to attack Blaze directly.

BM: 3500

Bl: 2200

"I end my turn," said Bastion.

"I begin mine, you're going down, I play Polymerization to fuse my UFO Turtle with my Little Chimera to Fusion Summon Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird in attack mode," said Blaze. (BFBB 2800/2300)

"Uh oh," said Bastion, he knew he wouldn't like this.

"Uh oh is right, Blaze Fenix destroy his Bora the Spear," said Blaze.

"Not so fast Blaze. I play my facedown, Negate Attack, now your attack is stopped and your turn ends," said Bastion.

"You got lucky," Blaze muttered and ended his turn.

"I draw and play Graceful Charity which allows me to draw three cards and discard two. Next I'll play Down Burst, this card sets all face-up Spells and traps you control and now I'll play this card, Delta Crow – Anti Reverse, this trap can only be activated when I control a Blackwing and if I control three Blackwings exactly, this card can be activated from my hand and guess what it does, it destroys all facedown Traps and Spells on your field. Your Backfire is no longer an issue for me anymore. Now, I'll use Monster Reborn to bring back a monster in my grave, Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, in attack mode," said Bastion (B-SD 2000/900)

"Next up, if I control a monster other than Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind I can Special Summon him to the field, in attack mode," said Bastion and now he had five monsters on the field and Blaze sweatdropped. Jaden had warned him that Bastion's new deck focused on swarming the field but he was sure that he could handle it, now…he was not so sure…

"That's not all; I'm now going to give my monsters a tune up! Jinn is Tuner monster, so it's him with Bora and Fane, to Synchro Summon Blackwing Armor Master in attack mode," said Bastion and grinned at his favourite Synchro monster. (BAM 2500/1500)

"Now it's Gale's and Sirocco's turn, for a tune up and this monster isn't a Blackwing," said Bastion.

"It's not?" asked Blaze.

"That's right, come forth great beast of darkness, rise and vanquish my enemy to allow goodness to reign, Dark End Dragon!" chanted Bastion, Hayley shivered, that chant gave her Goosebumps. A massive black dragon appeared on the field and roared at Blaze who gulped. (DED 2600/2100)

"Armor Master, attack," said Bastion but was stopped by Blaze, who having heard from Jaden about Blackwing Armor Master and his effect, used Negate Attack to stop him.

"I end my turn with a face down," said Bastion.

"I draw and I play Pot of Greed, now I can draw two cards," said Blaze, "I summon Flame the Crimson King in attack mode and when he's summoned his effect activates, he inflicts four hundred points of damage to your life points for each fire type I have on my field, which is two so say goodbye to eight hundred life points," said Blaze and Bastion gasped in pain as he was burned.

BM: 2700

Bl: 2200

"Bastion, are you ok?" asked Hayley in concern.

"Yeah I'm fine angel, don't worry, I'll take him down," said Bastion, waving to her.

"You shouldn't concern yourself with him Princess, the only man you should care about is Karādorein," said Blaze and Hayley and Bastion stared at him in disbelief and he made his next move.

"I now tribute my Flame the Crimson King to tribute Summon Thestalos the Fire Monarch in attack mode, and when he's tribute summoned I can discard one random card from your hand and if it's a monster you take damage equal to its level times one hundred, so I'll pick the middle card," said Blaze. (TFM 2400/1000)

Bastion groaned in despair, Blaze had picked a monster, his highest leveled monster, Blackwing – Aurora of the Northern Lights, she was a level ten, this was going to hurt. He discarded her and took one thousand life points of damage.

BM: 1700

Bl: 2200

"Bastion!" shouted Hayley in horror.

"Now for my next move, I use Polymerization to fuse Thestalos the Fire Monarch and Blaze Fenix, the Bombardment Bird in order to Fusion Summon my Dark Colour Monster , Dark Yellow Phoenix Monarch!" said Blaze with glee and a huge dark yellow phoenix with yellow fire on its wings appeared on the field. (DYPM 3000/2100)

"This card gains one hundred attack points time the number of fire monsters on my field and he can only battle my opponent's strongest monster on their field." (DYPM 3100/2100)

"I'm in trouble," said Bastion, "Wait a minute, doesn't he have the same effect as the other colour monsters? Where he's not affected by traps, spells or monster effects?" asked Bastion, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"No he doesn't have that effect, he's a Fusion monster, not like the other Dark Colour Monsters, but it doesn't matter this duel is finished, destroy his Dragon," said Blaze.

"Not so fast, your monsters inability does matter, for now I play my facedown, Swords of Reveling Light, now you can't attack for three turns," said Bastion happily.

"Shoot!" exclaimed Blaze but ended his turn.

'_I need to draw a monster that will get rid of his Dark Colour monster, I need to protect Hayley, what I wouldn't give for a Colour monster of my own to help do that,'_ thought Bastion and then he was standing outside the temple that Taniya had described to him, Hayley and the others. Needing no persuasion he followed his glowing key into the temple and saw that the pink, green, purple, red and yellow tablets were still glowing. Black and Blue had faded completely and were just regular stone coloured, while the orange tiger glowed brightly. He walked over to his tablet which depicted a great bird in flight and there was hole in one of its foot talons, he inserted his key and a loud screech echoed throughout the temple.

Bastion blinked and found himself back in the duel, he drew his card and grinned, "You're out of luck Blaze, because I meet the requirements to Special Summon my own Colour monster," said Bastion, smirking at Blaze's expression.

"NO!"

"YES!"

"Yes. Now pay attention, I can only Special Summon this monster if I've Synchro Summoned one Blackwing, have Dark End Dragon on the field and I have two Blackwings in my hand, so come on out, Yellow Blackwing – Jaswinder the Storm, in attack mode!" summoned Bastion and a huge yellow humanoid bird with yellow armor and a lightning bolt in his clawed hand appeared on the field. (YB-JS 3000/2700)

"He isn't affected by Spells, traps and monster effects and here's his other effects, by discarding three cards from my hand to my grave I can defuse a Fusion monster on my opponent's field, say goodbye to your Dark Yellow Phoenix Monarch," said Bastion, watching in satisfaction as Jaswinder used his lightning bolt to split the evil monster back into Thestalos the Fire Monarch and Blaze Fenix, the Bombardment Bird. (TFM 2400/1000) (2800/2300)

"OH NOOO!" screamed Blaze; he didn't have another Polymerization in his deck to summon his Colour Monster again. _'At least his monster can only attack once,'_ he thought.

Almost as if Bastion had read his mind he spoke, "Now for his next ability, he can attack three times in the same turn thanks to the three cards I discarded."

"Say what?" asked Blaze is shock, he was doomed.

"That's right, Jaswinder, destroy Bombardment Bird!" ordered Bastion and Bombardment Bird had his wings clipped.

BM: 1700

Bl: 2000

"Attack number two, Jaswinder attack his Thestalos the Fire Monarch," said Bastion and Blaze yelled in pain.

BM: 1700

Bl: 1400

"Now Jaswinder, attack Blaze's life points directly!" said Bastion, knowing he had won.

Blaze screamed in pain as his life points fell to zero and a colour crystal appeared sucking Blaze into it.

BM: 1700

Bl: 0

"YES!" said Bastion and Hayley and their keys glowed to protect them from being drained of colour. Dark Yellow was being taken away from the world and into the Colour Crystal, which then flew up into the sky and soon latched onto the giant Crystal in the colour room in Karādorein's palace.

"That fool!" yelled Karādorein in anger and the remaining Anarchists cowered in the corner.

"It's time to take matters into my own hands. Bastion Misawa is going down today!" said Karādorein and disappeared in a flash of colours.

Xxxxx

"Apart from losing dark yellow, that was great Bastion, now we only have Ryan, Larke, Jaden and Flo's opponents left," cheered Hayley and gave her boyfriend a kiss.

The kiss was broken due to a flurry of colours and Karādorein appearing from them. Bastion pushed Hayley behind him, drawing his sword and facing Karādorein in a battle stance.

"What do want Karādorein? I defeated Blaze and if you don't remember, I defeated you the last time we met," said Bastion fiercely.

"Correct, you did defeat me last time but this time will be different, I am at my full strength and I have grown in power thanks to the colours I have absorbed so far. As for what I want, I want Princess Hayley to be my bride and rule with me. I have come to destroy you Bastion to make sure that happens," said Karādorein and a sword appeared in his hand.

Hayley rushed out from behind Bastion in fury, "You monster, I will never marry you and you will never defeat Bastion. He fights for me with love in his heart and you fight just to prove that you are superior and to have me as your prize, a trophy! I'm not either and I will do everything in my power, as a princess, as a duelist, as an Amazon and as the woman whom Bastion loves to help defeat you, not just for me, but for mankind as well," Hayley stated and then her key began to glow…

Her body glowed a bright pink and pink ribbons began twisting around her body, enveloping her until a flash of pink light had the boys covering their eyes. When it subsided they both saw Hayley in a beautiful dress. It was strapless, pale pink in colour, with a white collar that was decorated with roses and wisterias and the edge of the dress had white pearls sown on. Around her waist was a white sash with two roses and around her neck was a pink choker with pearls lining it and on her delicate feet were rose-pink glass slippers. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun, with the rest of it trailing down her back, entwined with a pink and white ribbon and her special flower in its usual position. Pearl earrings adorned her ears and there was corsage of roses and wisterias on her left wrist. A crystal pink tiara with a white heart in the middle added the finishing touch and Hayley looked every inch the princess she was.

"Wow…Hayley, you look ravishing," breathed Bastion, thinking how lucky he was that this angel on earth was his girlfriend.

She blushed and smiled at him.

Karādorein was sweating in fear, _'Great, just great, now both of them have accessed their keys power, the princess and her prince… but the prophecy won't come true! I'll make sure of it! She will be mine!'_

"Enough! Bastion we fight now. For the right to Hayley's hand!" he said and started forward with his sword. Bastion grabbed Hayley and put her behind him, not wanting her to get hurt.

"How dare talk about her as though she's nothing but an accessory! Her hand! We're only in our teens! Even though we have no doubt that we'll be together for the rest of our lives, we don't have any need or desire to rush things and I'm telling you now Karādorein, I fought for Hayley before, in this life and in my past life, I'll do it again…" said Bastion, the two had been circling each other as Bastion had been speaking then Karādorein made the first move and lunged towards him.

Bastion ducked and parried before blocking a strike that would have taken off his neck. He twisted his upper body and thrust his sword at Karādorein who barely managed to block it! They fought for what seemed like hours but it had only been twenty minutes. Then Karādorein made an unexpected move, he dodged out of the way and peddled backwards before sending out a visible beam of psychic energy towards Bastion, which lifted him off the ground and made him smash into the side of the school.

"BASTION!" screamed Hayley in horror.

Bastion lay there, unconscious… His world was dark and it felt like he was floating, he opened his eyes and it was still dark but he could see and feel that he was indeed floating.

"Where am I?" he wondered and then it got lighter and Yellow Blackwing - Jaswinder the Storm appeared as well as every other monster in his deck.

"What in the world…?" asked Bastion, dumbstruck at this spectacle.

"Bastion you must wake up and save the Princess," said Bora the Spear.

"Don't be so forward Bora, at least explain what's going on," said Zephyr the Gentle Breeze.

"Yes, an explanation would be nice," said Bastion, having managed to find his voice.

"Bastion, you are aware of your past life with Hayley, what you don't know is that you both possess great powers, when you took the Colour Keys they were unlocked. Your transformations are proof, these clothes that you wear are actually the clothes you wore as Prince Daichi and the transformation Hayley went through, she is wearing what she wore as Princess Wisteria. Your powers back in your past include powerful psychic abilities, greater than Karādorein's. You still possess them, you have woken some of them up now," explained Blackwing Armor Master.

"Me? Psychic powers? Are you sure?" asked Bastion, it just seemed too impossible to believe.

"Yes, you must now wake up and use them to defeat Karādorein one on one for the last time before you face him in the final battle. Close your eyes and concentrate, you will know what you need to do," said Fane and he and the others started to fade away.

"Wait, don't go! I don't understand, how am I supposed to use my powers?" cried Bastion but his world was going black and he heard screaming, a girls voice, calling his name, save me…it was Hayley!

Bastion's eyes snapped open and saw that Hayley was struggling to get out of Karādorein's strong grip.

"No Princess, not even your beloved Bastion can help you now, say goodbye to him," said Karādorein and sent his sword Bastion's way with his powers, oblivious to Hayley's screams. A second before it reached him, Bastion's eyes shot open again, glowing yellow and purple, he stopped the sword, turned it around and embedded it deep into the ground. He jumped up and held up a card.

"ARISE, BLACK-WINGED DRAGON!" Instinct told him what to do; instinct told him how to use his powers. A magnificent black winged dragon appeared in the sky. He swooped down, Bastion jumped and landed on his back and used his powers to detach Hayley from Karādorein and send him flying. Karādorein got up and scowled, summoning his own Monster, Dragunity Knight – Trident and got on his back. The two psychics on their dragons stared at each other before Karādorein shouted,

"TRIDENT, USE DRAGON BLAZE!" and a blaze of fire came forth from the dragon.

"BLACK-WINGED DRAGON, COUNTER WITH BLACK FEATHER STRIKE!" cried Bastion and Black-Winged Dragon, being the stronger monster on the field, so to speak, his attack cut through Tridents and sent him and Karādorein to the ground, disappearing as Karādorein could no longer keep him on the earth. Bastion landed Black-Winged Dragon and jumped off him, walking over to Karādorein, he pulled his sword to his throat, "Get out of here Karādorein and don't come back. We'll meet again in the final battle and be prepared to lose again," he said coldly and after he'd lifted his sword from him, Karādorein scrambled away from Bastion, teleporting himself back to his castle in a flurry of colours.

Bastion put away his sword, patted Black-Winged Dragon, thanking him for his help before sending him back to the spirit world.

"Bastion, are you ok?" asked his very concerned girlfriend, running towards him. He turned and saw Taniya running towards them with Crowler and Sheppard and he smiled at Hayley, relieved that she was safe and said, "I'm fine…" and then he collapsed on the ground, utterly exhausted from his strenuous day.

Xxxxx

**Please review**


	15. Sibling Rivalry

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 15: Sibling Rivalry**

It had been three days since Bastion's duel against Blaze and he'd recovered his strength quickly to Hayley's delight.

Ever since Flo had moved up to Obelisk, the nights for Craig had been filled by cleaning up of the Slifer's meals, being punished for driving off the week before. However, the week's punishment had finished, and this only made the night's more tedious for Craig, as he spent the night in the Slifer cafeteria with most of the other students, as they spent their time dueling and trading before they went back to their rooms. Having only really spoken to Flo in his time at the Slifer dorm, Craig rarely spoke to anyone else, and so was sitting in the corner by himself.

Craig watched some of the Slifers duel on the tables around him, and Craig found it weird watching a duel without any holograms, although watching the duels caused him to have a flashback from a long time back.

Xxxxx

_Craig/James: 700  
Ryan: 3700_

"Face it! Next turn, my Naturia Exterio will take you both out, and you'll regret ever challenging me!" said Ryan. (NE 2800/2400)

"Craig; it's impossible to win, maybe we should just surrender," muttered James, out of confidence.

"James. A duel is never over until the last card is played. Draw your card!" replied Craig cheerily, looking at the crestfallen James and smiling as James drew.

"Excellent…" said James with a smile.

"Is it good?" asked Craig.

"If good is, it's going to win us this duel, then yes. I activate Riryoku, taking half of Naturia Exterio's attack points and transferring them to Vairon Soldier, Vairon Soldier, take out his Exterio!" attacked James, as Naturia Exterio was eliminated by the overgrown soldier. (NE 2800/2400 – 1400/2400) (VS 1700/1000 – 3100/2400)

Xxxxx

"James…," muttered Craig, remembering about his brother who was back at home safe, or so Craig presumed.

"Guys, time to pack up, you've had ten minutes too much anyway," said Taniya, opening the door to the Slifer dorm, as the students began packing up their cards and other objects before heading to their dormitories.

Craig was first to walk out, having not picked anything up from his dormitory to take down anyway. Most in the Slifer dorm had seen the change in Craig, since Flo had been promoted. After Craig had walked out silently, everyone else followed quickly, leaving the small, yet cozy Slifer game room silent for the remainder of the night.

Xxxxx

Every morning, it had been a habit of Craig's to walk round to the Ra dorm to meet Hayley and Bastion before they walked up to class together, as the Ra dorm was on his route to the Duel Tower. However, that morning there was a difference, Hayley and Bastion weren't outside the Ra dorm as normal.

They had stuck a note to the wall where they normally waited, and Craig found that the two had gone to visit Spike, although Craig got no indication of why or when they'd be back, just that they had gone to visit Spike. Knowing this, Craig followed his route alone to the Duel Tower for once.

Xxxxx

"Face it, if I had a card for every time you'd avoided a duel with Craig, I could have a second Deck by now," insulted Larke, leaning on the wall speaking to Ryan, who sat in a chair staring at his cards, placed on the table.

"I haven't exactly seen you visiting Duel Academy recently," replied Ryan testily.

"That's because I haven't told her to," intervened Karādorein as he entered the room, "You, however, have been ordered a few times now. Since you clearly haven't got the confidence to find Craig, I'll give you an easier task. We need to infiltrate Duel Academy from the inside," he said.

Xxxxx

Inside the classroom, everyone was standing inside, waiting for a teacher to enter the class. Hayley and Bastion had turned up, although Craig still wasn't given any information as to why they had visited Spike and didn't really wish to ask.

Today, they were supposed to be taught by Crowler, who had gone missing, although no-one really complained of the lack of teaching, many taking the opportunity to catch up on study for the upcoming exams, or suggesting what could be happening to Crowler, many of which sounded painful or embarrassing and which Bastion and Hayley frowned at.

Xxxxx

The Runner brought itself to a halt swiftly, and the rider leant the Runner upon the nearby hill, before removing his helmet, and taking a long look at the Duel Tower.

"Looks like my target is here," muttered the person, before walking slowly into the Tower.

Xxxxx

Crowler was actually standing in Chancellor Sheppard's office, staring at the television screen that Karādorein had originally spoke into before, speaking once again to the same person.

"You're offering a peace deal?" said Crowler, surprised.

"Of course. You're losing people drastically," replied Karādorein.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you the one loosing people drastically. We may have lost Alexis and Chazz, but you've lost more because of your glitch," said Sheppard and Kara scowled at him.

"It matters not. If you want to lose more than Black and Blue hand over Princess Hayley to me," demanded Karādorein

"Hand over a student! That's absurd! Never!" yelled Crowler, Hayley was one of his favorites.

"Correct, it may be so. But however, your first priority is the students, surely? Aren't they worth more than just one girl?" asked Karādorein smugly.

"Crowler's correct, that's absurd, we will never give you Hayley. My remaining Key Holders will destroy the remaining Anarchists and any other threat you throw at them. I have full confidence in them. Goodbye," declined Sheppard.

"Very well. Farewell and in you go," said Karādorein, saying the final three words into a headset.

At that moment, the door into the office was broken into the end, and in its position stood the scruffy-haired, tall figure of Craig's older brother, staring down Sheppard and Crowler.

"Morning," introduced Ryan, "I'm the exterminator."

Crowler cringed at the reference, "You may be, but does the exterminator ever really win?"

Ryan laughed at Crowler's incompetence, "Actually, they do most of the time."

"Nonetheless, can I help you?" asked Sheppard, still maintaining politeness, despite how his enemy was in his office.

"Since you refused the peace offering, I'm here to take you out of the office," said Ryan, activating his Duel Disk.  
Seeing Ryan's challenge, Crowler activated his Duel Disk, of which he could barely carry, "If it's a Duel you want, you'll get a Duel."

"This isn't a Duel, this is Pest Control," insulted Ryan, angering Crowler further, "To prove my point, I'll take you both on, everyone gets 4000 Life Points, last man standing wins."

Sheppard also stood up from his chair, calm despite Ryan's insults, "And if you lose, you leave this island and never harm my students again."

Ryan nodded, symbolizing that he accepted said challenge, as Sheppard activated his Duel Disk as well, as the three faced each other, drawing five cards each, before all three said, "Let's duel!"

Sheppard: 4000  
Crowler: 4000  
Ryan: 4000

"My turn first," began Sheppard, "I'll begin by Summoning Cyber Esper in Defense Mode, and to finish, I'll lay a card face-down." (CE 1200/1800)

"Here we go, my draw! Listen up, slacker, because this might get complicated for your brain. First I Summon Ancient Gear in Defense Mode, and because I have one face-up Ancient Gear on my field, I can Summon out another Ancient Gear in Defense Mode, and to round it all up, I activate Magnet Circle LV2, so I can Summon another Ancient Gear in Defense Mode," said Crowler. (AG 100/800) ×3

Ryan stared at the field, and sniggered under his breath. If Crowler and Sheppard were already on the defensive, Ryan presumed that they were holding out for their better cards.

"Three gears and a small dragon-thing, you've got me quaking in my boots. How about I show the teachers how dueling is done. First, let's have a small change of scenery. I activate Pandemonium," said Ryan.

The office changed from the peaceful area it looked into a rotting landscape, with Crowler and Sheppard standing on one side, with Ryan on the other, staring around, liking the new scenery, whereas Crowler looked close to tears.

"There's nothing to fear, you won't be here long, I Summon out Pandemonium Watchbear in Defense Mode, and I'll add a face-down card to finish," said Ryan, as Crowler paid no attention to the move, still looking quite scared of the field around him. (PW 1300/1800)

Xxxxx

Craig, like everyone else, had given up the wait for Crowler to turn up at the classroom, and so began taking their time to do more relevant things. Craig was again on his own, as others spent their time studying. Craig spotted a small vehicle in the distance and so, he slowly edged towards it.

Getting closer, Craig recognized it as a Duel Runner, having one himself, and the colouring of it was black with red stripes. For a moment, Craig forgot where this Duel Runner had been spotted before, until remembering.

Xxxxx

_Suddenly, the pair of lights began moving towards Craig, and began getting faster and faster, and it swiftly passed Craig, who instantly recognized the device. It was a Duel Runner. The Duel Runner was black and had three red stripes circling all the way around it; Craig looked annoyed, how his older brother had got his hands on a Duel Runner? Walking back out of the alley, Craig attempted to look for his older brother once more.  
_  
Xxxxx

The memories of Domino City returned to him, and he remembered about Alexis and Chazz, who had seemingly been forgotten in all the rush of everything.

Although Craig knew that Ryan was on the island, he didn't wish to search for him. Whenever he had tried to get him so far, he had always escaped, when Ryan wanted him, he'd be ready.

Xxxxx

"It's back to me. I sacrifice my Cyber Esper in order to bring out Cyber Ogre, and straightaway, he'll attack your Pandemonium Watchbear," attacked Sheppard, as the mechanical ogre appeared, leapt through the air and begin its onslaught of the bear. (CO 1900/1200)

"Wrong. I activate my face-down, Hate Buster. When a Fiend-Type monster of mine is attacked, I can destroy the attacking monster, and you lose Life Points equal to the monster's Attack Points," replied Ryan, as the ogre exploded, blasting Sheppard.

Sheppard: 2100  
Crowler: 4000  
Ryan: 4000

Sheppard grunted under his breath, slightly agitated at how Ryan was just staring at the ground laughing at his failure to attack him, "I end my turn there."

Crowler drew his card, and stared at his ungratefully, "I guess I have to pass my turn."

"You couldn't have helped yourself anyway. First, I activate Monster Reborn, bringing Cyber Ogre to my side of the field, and to add to that, I Summon out Mad Archfiend. Switching Pandemonium Bear into Attack Mode as well, all three of my monsters shall finish off your Ancient Gears!" said Ryan. (MA 1800/0)

Crowler screamed as all three of his Gears were ripped by shreds by each monster, taking damage from one of the attacks.

Sheppard: 2100  
Crowler: 3000  
Ryan: 4000

"That was because of Mad Archfiend's effect, you take damage even when your monsters are in Defense Mode, and I'll end my turn with another face-down," finished Ryan, looking smug over his lead.

"This duel is not over," reminded Sheppard, "It's my turn, and because I have no monsters on my field, I can Summon out Cyber Dragon in Attack Mode," (CD 2100/1600)

Ryan stared up at the dragon with no fear in his eyes, "As you wish. Attack me then, bring on your monster with all your might."

Sheppard looked worried at Ryan's face-down card, so stared towards Crowler, who took that as a symbol that it was his turn.

"Hmph, I'll activate Cost Down, discarding a card to reduce the level of all the monsters in my hand by two. And so, I'll Summon out the Ancient Gear Beast in Attack Mode. Now we have the stronger monsters on the field. Over to you," added Crowler, as the technology looked to be overwhelming the fiends of Ryan. (AGB 2000/2000)

"Fools, you could've attacked me and finished me off just about," Ryan told them, drawing his card and showing a great grin upon seeing it, "I activate my face-down, Nightmare Archfiends. By Tributing my Pandemonium Watchbear, I can summon out three Nightmare Archfiend Tokens in Attack Mode on your side of the field. So that's two for Crowler, and one for Sheppard," (NAT 2000/2000)

Crowler simply showed his delight at being given two more powerful monsters, "You fool! You've given us more monsters to eliminate you with."

"Wrong, every time one of those tokens are destroyed, you lose 800 Life Points in addition you what you would lose normally," explained Ryan, "And now, I sacrifice my Cyber Ogre and Mad Archfiend, to bring out the last monster you'll ever see!"

Xxxxx

Craig had just been ready to enter the Duel Tower again, until the windows above him cracked open, and had to run away from the glass falling down above him, staring from where he stood, he saw a red flame go inwards, and Crowler and Sheppard staring, transfixed at something above them, something Craig was unable to see.

Xxxxx

"And now my beast can attack every one of your monsters at once!" said Ryan, laughing down at Sheppard and Crowler, looking fearful of their fate, "Finish these fools!"

Xxxxx

Craig saw Sheppard and Crowler both get hit by a fist from the being that they were transfixed at, and both were seemingly knocked unconscious from the blast, and both fell backwards from the blast they took, out of the window, as Craig watched on, and he could do nothing to help.

"Blackwing Armor Master, grab Crowler!" yelled a figure from nearby, as the bird flew through the air and swiftly caught Crowler, safely placing him on the ground.

"Whitewing – Crimson Bird of Fire, save Sheppard!" added the second figure, as the second bird also caught the Chancellor, and placed his body on the ground next to Crowler's.

Sheppard: 0  
Crowler: 0  
Ryan: 4000

Craig looked up from where Crowler and Sheppard had fallen, and saw his older brother staring down from the window, and the unknown being that was behind him in the Duel had now vanished and the next thing Craig saw, was Ryan right in front of him.

"Boo," said Ryan, looking at the two people he had just dueled, with no form of emotion shown.

"What have you done," replied Bastion, standing with Hayley, the two who had used their cards to save the two teachers. Somehow they had made them become real for those precious few seconds. Was it Bastion's powers he'd told them of while in the infirmary?

"They refused to comply, they were dealt with," explained Ryan.

"What, by throwing them out of a building?" questioned Craig, staring at his brother as if he was some form of madman.

"Well, they wouldn't surrender. We dealt with them in the Anarchist way, and so now Duel Academy has no leader, so the next figure of authority can surrender to us. And that'll be the Key holders, the defenders of the school," added Ryan, activating his Duel Disk.

"Actually, I'd consider myself of higher authority then the students," said a voice from directly behind Ryan.

Ryan turned around, and Taniya slammed her fist directly into Ryan's stomach, causing him to reel on the ground, winded from the attack, before slowly rising, looking angered at the Amazon who stood above him with her pet tiger growling ferociously at him. He gulped.

"I think how I'm also a teacher here, as well as a Key holder, puts me in a higher position then the kids," said Taniya.

Upon realizing that he was outnumbered, Ryan touched Sheppard's and Crowler's bodies, faced his younger brother, who was grinning at his pain, before teleporting close by to where he had placed his Runner before, and teleported away again, taking his Runner and the two teachers with him.

"Glad I'm not him," said Bastion, as everyone turned to Taniya, who had laughed at Ryan's quick escape.

"Guess we found Ryan's weakness, nothing works more than that," joked Taniya.

Xxxxx

"I see congratulations are in order," said Karādorein, turning around to face Ryan who had entered the room again.

"They weren't a challenge," replied Ryan, sitting down on a nearby chair.

"I guess you'll be ready to step up to your next challenge then?" asked Karādorein, as Ryan nodded his head, "Good, because here it is."

Xxxxx

"Ryan's gone, but what about Sheppard and Crowler?" asked Hayley.

"Just another reason for us all to take out the remaining Anarchists," replied Taniya, smiling down at her considerate younger sibling, before turning away and beginning a walk back to the Duel Tower, "I guess, I just signed myself for authority, so I presume I'm the Chancellor now."

"Couldn't think of a better person if I tried," complimented Bastion, as Hayley nodded as well, showing her agreement with Bastion.

After Taniya had left with a resounding smile at the three, Craig began to leave as well, followed by Hayley and Bastion in the other direction to finish the night. All four knew that they were going to have to step things up a load in order to remain in this fight now.

Craig continued to walk back to his dormitory, and thought about what had happened and what still to come, before his PDA flashed, indicating he had received a message. Seeing it was from James, Craig looked at the message, as it read, "That Karādorein person came. Dad escaped, got split up from me. I'm safe and hiding."

Craig groaned, Karādorein attempted to get a hold of him yet again, yet those he knew had escaped again. Despite that the two were now alone and separate from each other, Craig was reassured by the fact that the two were both safe as far as he knew. Just as he was about to turn his PDA off, a picture from James also appeared on his PDA. It showed a wooden fence with what seemingly looked like a junkyard behind it. Craig was unable to decipher was this could mean, and so turned his PDA off for the night, heading back to his dormitory.

Xxxxx

The next morning, again there was no classes for the day, as Crowler had vanished and no other teachers had the time to do the teaching part of their job. Most were down on the beach of Duel Academy, larger than it looked, stretching across most of the island. Down on the beach already were Craig and Flo, recently having begun spending more time with each other than before. The remainder of the Key holders had been warned by Taniya to keep their eyes out for any suspicious activity, and she believed their plan was to be to destroy Duel Academy slowly before running through the Key holders swiftly. Just after midday had passed, the day looked to be normal, before the sand around the beach began to get swept around the students, causing many of the students to run around covering their faces. Craig and Flo looked up and saw a man in a mask piloting the helicopter, soon becoming disrupted when the hatch on the bottom of the helicopter opened and Ryan rode out on his Duel Runner towards the ground, hitting it with a bump, his fall comforted by the soft sand. Craig and Flo stood up and stared at the person on the black Runner, with clothes matching to his Runner.

"He never leaves that Runner does he?" mentioned Flo in Craig's ear.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," replied Craig.

At the point of which Ryan landed, Hayley and Bastion were seen running down the slope onto the beach, spending the time that they were given to study, two of the only few who chose to do so, having seen everyone fleeing the beach from their window.

"Morning," said Craig calmly.

"The same," replied Bastion, as the four faced Ryan.

Ryan had been staring at Craig for quite some time, but the arrival of Hayley made him turn his head towards her, activated his Runner and drove quickly towards her, passing her and grabbing her waist, taking her unwillingly with him, slowing down a couple of hundred of meters away.

"Well, someone's been working on their Runner," commented Craig angrily.

"He's not going to get away with this," said Bastion, sprinting off towards Ryan, who had come to a halt and placed Hayley on the ground next to him, she was presumably winded from the speed Ryan grabbed her waist, so she was slowly recovering whilst Bastion ran towards Ryan swiftly.

"That's not like Bastion," said Flo.

"He's trying to protect Hayley, something tells me he's going to lose this…" muttered Craig.

"Guess I'd better go help him then," added Flo, who ran off towards Ryan as well.

Craig ran his hands through his hair, shocked at the sudden change in the two of his friends, suddenly making rash decisions. Ryan had dismounted his Runner in the time it had taken for Bastion to reach him, and activated his Duel Disk on his arm, which contained an orb in the section where his Deck normally was.

"Thought Ruler Archfiend, take this pitiful fool out," said Ryan, as the dragon rose from his Duel Disk, although Craig realized that the orb he originally had in the position it was had supposedly disintegrated into his Duel Disk.

From the position in front of Ryan, now was filled by a colossal green skeletal-like dragon, flying in the air which stared down at Bastion.

"It's just a hologram," reminded Bastion to himself, not fearing the dragon's sheer size, and continuing to run at Ryan, who laughed at Bastion.

Completely out of the blue, the dragon swung its tail around fast, and smashed it into the side of Bastion, who was thrown into the side of the cliff which separated land from the beach, and he groaned as he hit the floor. Flo then faced the same fate as she was already in range of the beast when she halted. Craig, however, remained in the same position as he started in, simply watching and not taking action, although he cringed slightly as each of his friends were shot against the wall, "That orb… it must make the creature real," he muttered to himself, understanding what others didn't.

Bastion groaned in pain and lifted his head, understanding that the creature was now real. Flo didn't however, and stood back up again, activating her own Duel Disk and choosing a card from her Deck.

"Let's fight fire with fire! Dark Paladin, let's rise," said Flo, placing the card on her Duel Disk as the hologram of the purple magician appeared in front of her, swinging his staff through the air.

At the same time, the Paladin fired a powerful blast from its staff towards the dragon in a head-on assault. The dragon swept away the magical blast.

Craig shouted towards Flo, "That dragon is real! You can't defeat it using plain holograms!"

Suddenly, the dragon jumped through the air, and trapped both Bastion and Flo under its tail. Although both of them tried to shift it, it was way more difficult than it looked.

"Hayley," muttered Bastion and struggled against the dragon's tail even more.

Ryan was suddenly on the floor, reeling from yet another shot to the stomach. Hayley had risen from the floor and taken the opportunity to get her revenge. Despite this, the large dragon protected its master yet again and picked Hayley up in one of its hands, not placing her under his tail like he had done previously with Bastion and Flo.

"Bastion!" she cried.

Craig looked up at the helicopter, and saw that the man in the mask piloting it was evidently Karādorein, as he realized that this was yet another capture attempt, remembering at how Karādorein was desperate to get Hayley in his possession.

From the edge of the cliff, Taniya jumped down towards Ryan, but was instantly blocked by the dragon's other hand, as she fell straight into it, as the dragon grabbed her as well, looking around for any other potential attackers, but everyone had already fled.

Ryan laughed at the four he had held in victory, speaking into the earpiece he had used before, clearly at Karādorein, "Where do you want her?"

The four heard the quiet reply from Ryan's ear, "Bring them all up here."

The dragon added Bastion and Flo into its hands, Hayley and Taniya still in the other, trapped from the force of the creature.

Ryan was tapped on the shoulder from behind by someone. When he turned around, he saw his little brother directly in front of him.

"I'll take that," said Craig, sliding the dragon card off of Ryan's Duel Disk and into his hand.

The dragon slowly began to disappear, all four of Bastion, Hayley, Taniya and Flo landing on the ground unhurt by the dragon, before Craig added, "If you're going to attempt an evil plan where the Duel Monsters card becomes real, I'd suggest making it so no-one can remove it with such ease." Bastion gathered Hayley into his arms, ready to protect her if Ryan tried something or worse, if Karādorein tried something.

Ryan was circled by the five, although he remained smiling, "After all this time, you still don't know how us Anarchists, we can teleport," he said, but he remained in the same spot, muttering to himself, "What's going on?"

From his earpiece, Ryan, and everyone else, heard Karādorein finish his company with Ryan with the simple statement, "You've cowered out too many times before and I don't like cowards. I've taken away your Anarchist powers. This was a set up. Have fun," he then piloted the helicopter in the opposite direction towards Domino City.

"Ouch," said Bastion, he was feeling better. Holding Hayley in his arms always made him feel good.

"Weren't you going somewhere?" said Flo, joining in with the amusement of Ryan's escape failure.

"I don't need those Anarchist fools," said Ryan, then jumping onto his Runner, and driving off swiftly into the distance, without a single word upon leaving, angered at how he had been suddenly ditched by Karādorein.

"We could go after him," said Hayley.

"He can't get far, he's alone now I presume, so I don't think he'll vanish far from this island," replied Taniya.

Seeing how Ryan and the dragon had left the area, everyone resumed the day on the beach, although Craig remained cautious of where Ryan could come from next.

"Just relax," said Flo, "He ran for it."

"We thought that last time and then he summoned a giant dragon on us," replied Craig.

Despite Craig's worrying, the rest of the day passed without any sign of an Anarchist, and most people began to pack up just before sundown, including Craig, Flo, Hayley and Bastion. Taniya however called Craig back.

"What is it Taniya?" he asked.

"After what happened today, I need you to take up your old role of the past, protect my sister when Bastion is unable to, please Craig, please…Tai," said Taniya, deliberately using his past life's name.

He stared at her for a moment and then bowed, "I will, Princess Sunny," using her past life's name.

"Thank you Craig," said Taniya and smiled at him before ruffling his hair and walking off.

Xxxxx

Bastion, Hayley and Flo had headed back to their respective dorms, although Craig headed straight towards the Duel Runner workshop that the school had set up months back.

However, Craig came to a halt when he saw a black and red Runner parked just outside the workshop, and a person kneeling down beside it, facing away from Craig, making tweaks to his Runner. Using the opportunity, Craig crept behind Ryan without making a noise, and mounted his own Duel Runner, which was now plain white, and turned on the engine. Ryan heard the noise from the motor, and turned to face him, before putting his black helmet over his head.

"Would've been better if you didn't run off the first five times though," insulted Craig, placing his light blue helmet around his head, and Ryan activated his Duel Runner, and turned it to face away from Craig.

"I guess we can't run from each other forever," said Ryan.

"I guess so. The world isn't safe until all the Anarchists are gone, including you," replied Craig.

"And I need to defeat you for my own purposes."

The two faced up side by side, and with no more mention of any additional comments, the two sped off towards the main area of the island.

"First to reach the tree gets the first draw," said Ryan, as both activated their Duel Runners into the Turbo Duel Mode, their Duel Disks coming out from the insides of the Runners, and each duelist drew five cards. Upon the mention of the tree, Ryan sped off into the distance ahead of Craig, and drew his first card.

Xxxxx

Taniya finished off her night by checking that all of her students were asleep for the night, although Craig's door remained open. Knocking on the door, she found that Craig wasn't inside, and she looked around the area and only saw two vehicles in the distance edging ever closer towards the Slifer dormitory.

"Craig…" groaned Taniya and slapped her hand against her head and dragged it down her face. "What am I going to do with him?" she asked, sounding for all the world like a mother.

Xxxxx

Craig: 4000  
Ryan: 4000

"My turn first then, catch up," began Ryan, "And straightaway, I activate Pandemonium, meaning I don't have to take away any Life Points when Summoning my Archfiend monsters, and I'll then add Lancer Archfiend in Attack Mode!" (LA 1600/1400)

Craig stared down at his key, which happened to be glowing slightly red, as he thought to himself, _'Ryan may have lost his Anarchist powers, but Karādorein still controls the fate of the loser of this duel. For Ryan, he's placed himself in a lose-lose situation, unless he's found a loophole in how this works.'_

"Stop staring down at yourself, this is a duel!" yelled Ryan, staring back at Ryan, "I end my turn there."

"For my turn, I'll just Summon Delta the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode, and that'll be all," replied Craig, attempting to stall in an attempt to find a plan. (DMW 1400/1500)

Ryan laughed at Craig's small attempts to stall, ahead of him by a significant distance, turning back and yelling, "I thought this school was supposed to improve your dueling. Nonetheless, for my turn, I'll add Terrorking Archfiend to my forces, and then my Lancer Archfiend will attack your puny Delta!" (TA 2000/1600)

Craig could only stare on and watch as the Lancer ripped the Magnet Warrior in two, although the two pieces each reformed themselves into two smaller magnets, Ryan looking confused.

"When Delta is destroyed, it splits into two Level 2 Magnet Tokens, each in Defense Mode," explained Craig. (M T 1000/1000)

"You lived this round, Terrorking Archfiend, attack one of his Magnet Tokens," attacked Ryan, not looking happy at how he had been prevented of an early lead.

Xxxxx

"Where's Craig you say?" asked Flo.

"Driving around the island as we speak, attempting to defeat Ryan in a Turbo Duel," replied Taniya, still standing on the Slifer balcony looking for the two Duel Runners.

"Best we round everyone up then, if Craig's dueling a duelist like Ryan, he'll need support I suppose," said Flo, although everyone else was on their way, their keys guiding them.

Xxxxx

"My turn!" began Craig, drawing. He still remained behind Ryan, not having a fast enough Runner to compete with the speed of Ryan's, "I Summon out Junk Synchron in Attack Mode, and I presume you know parts of my Deck already, so you know what's happening here. I'm performing a Synchro Summon with Junk Synchron and the last Magnet Token!" JS (1300/500)

The small orange warrior split into the green balls of light, forming the tunnel surrounding the Magnet Token, which also began separating, as the incoming warrior was formed within.

"Junk Warrior! Let's roll!" said Craig, as the purple warrior flew down with the shaft of light, staring down at Ryan's two smaller monsters, preparing to attack, "Junk Warrior, attack his Lancer Archfiend!" (JW 2300/1300)

The archfiend attempted to use its two spears in each hand to form some sort of defense, although the purple warrior ran straight in between it and took it down, hitting Ryan in the process, as the two brothers drew level once more.

Craig: 4000  
Ryan: 3300

"I'll end with one face-down card," said Craig, looking cheerful at gaining the first blood of the match.

"You may have the first blood, but I'll have the last," intimidated Ryan, "I sacrifice my Terrorking Archfiend to Summon out Mist Archfiend in Attack Mode!" (MA 2400/0)

Craig's smug look disappeared quickly from his face as the fiend surrounded in its own mist emerged onto the field, just overpowering the Junk Warrior.

"Mist Archfiend, attack his pathetic warrior!" attacked Ryan.

"I'll activate a face-down that Hayley gave me, one she uses herself, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! This stops one of my opponent's attacks, and after said attack, it goes back face-down," retaliated Craig, the scarecrow taking the full force of the attack.

"Pure luck, I'll end my turn," finished Ryan, angered again at how he had been stopped.

The two were coming up to the Slifer dorm, which now had Taniya, Flo, Hayley, Bastion, Hasselberry and Syrus standing outside looking out for any signs of oncoming Runners.

"My turn!" began Craig, drawing his card, "I'll Summon out the Level 3 Tuner Monster, Magnetic Synchron! And here comes another Synchro Summon! Tuning Magnetic Synchron with Junk Warrior," (MS 1000/1000)

Xxxxx

"Craig's already got a Synchro out, and here comes another one," said Taniya.

"Come on Major, you got on the run!" yelled Hasselberry in support.

"On the ride… Technically," replied Syrus, "They're on Duel Runners," and Hayley sighed and petted Empress, who was well on her way to becoming a full grown lioness.

Xxxxx

"Magnetic Synchron? I've seen you duel before, and I know perfectly well how to deal with your Magnetic Warrior," commented Ryan, attempting to throw Craig off his game.

"Then you'll be shocked, because now, out of the light comes my new monster! Fighting for the other team now, come on out… Thought Ruler Archfiend!" said Craig, as instead of the suspected warrior appearing, the colossal green dragon from before re-appeared, facing towards Ryan now instead of away from him, Ryan looked shocked that Craig had one of his strongest cards. (TRA 2700/2300)

"How on Earth did you get that!" yelled Ryan in anger.

"You forgot our earlier meeting," replied Craig.

Xxxxx

_"I'll take that," said Craig, sliding the dragon card off of Ryan's Duel Disk and into his hand._

Xxxxx

"You drove off so quickly you didn't get the card back, so I thought I'd place it in my Deck as a surprise for when I dueled now. Now, feel your own card's wrath, Thought Ruler Archfiend, burn his Mist Archfiend into the ground!" attacked Craig, the dragon flew into the air and launched a heavy burst of fire from its mouth, reducing the mist to ashes, damaging Ryan again, "And, thanks to Thought Ruler's ability, I gain Life Points equal to Mist Archfiend's Attack Points."

Craig: 6400  
Ryan: 3000

Ryan looked angry again at how Craig had gained such an enormous lead, "My turn… I Summon Shadowknight Archfiend in Attack Mode, and I'll lay two cards face-down…"(SA 2000/1600)

Xxxxx

The two went past the Slifer dormitory, and those who were watching were shocked at the state of the field.

"Craig's got that dragon on his side of the field…" said Flo quietly.

"I'm sure he's putting it to good use," replied Bastion, attempting to keep spirits high. Hayley grasped his hand and his squeezed it, trying to reassure her.

Xxxxx

Craig spotted his friends on the Slifer dorm, and sped his Runner up and overtook Ryan, who realized that Craig was becoming inspired to duel harder for his friends, and the two came towards the bridge that connected Duel Academy and Domino City. Ryan also chose to go faster on his Runner, turning in at the Runner, yelling back at Craig, "Catch me if you can."

"We're half way through a duel, you're not getting away this time…" replied Craig, turning in towards the bridge and the two began to head directly towards Domino City, "Thought Ruler Archfiend, attack his Shadowknight Archfiend now!"

"Activate face-down, Frozen Soul! This makes it so that you have to skip this Battle Phase," replied Ryan, as the fire that erupted from the dragon's mouth was frozen and broke into tiny pieces.

Xxxxx

"Where'd they go?" asked Hayley, looking around on the island for the two Runners.

"They're over there," replied Taniya, focusing on the bridge that the two were half way down currently, "I don't think Craig wants to let Ryan go now. He's in the lead by far now and wants to finish this rivalry for good I think."

Xxxxx

"My turn now," said Ryan, "I'll switch Shadowknight Archfiend into Defense Mode, and I'll add Archfiend Interceptor to my side of the field as well in Defense Mode. As well as that, I'll activate Exchange. So we each choose a card from each other's hands, and we get that card," (AI 1400/1600)

Ryan saw Craig's hand up on his Runner's monitor, and took only a second to choose, and took Craig's Graverobber. When Craig saw Ryan's hand, he looked along it, uncertain of what card to pick, before he came to the end of Ryan's hand. It was an orange card, with a picture of a large, red demon on it. Craig knew what this card was, as would anyone.

"You can have him if you want," taunted Ryan.

Craig's finger hovered over the demon for a second, before he edged it away, and selected Nightmare Archfiends.

"I wouldn't take that card ever," said Craig.

"Funny. You almost did," replied Ryan, "I'll end my turn there."

Ryan turned right into the city, Craig following close behind, with the skeletal dragon flying above him, now fighting for the other side. Craig drew his card, discarding it into his hand, only focusing on using his dragon to eliminate his opposition.

"Thought Ruler Archfiend! Attack his Archfiend Interceptor!" attacked Craig, as the dragon attempted his attack once more.

"I have another face-down; Hate Buster! When my Fiend-Type monster is selected as an attack target, I can destroy the attacking target and you take damage equal to its Attack Points," replied Ryan.

From Ryan's face-down, up appeared a skeletal being, shrouded in a black robe, floating over to Craig's dragon. The being took out a sword from its robe and drove it straight through Thought Ruler Archfiend and into Craig.

Craig: 3700  
Ryan: 3000

"Look at you. Stealing other's monsters, and now look at the position you're stuck in. An empty field, and you could've selected the most powerful monster in either of our Decks, but you refused," exclaimed Ryan.

"My turn isn't over. I Summon Zeta the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode, and when he's the only monster on my field, I can pay 500 Life Points to bring out Omicron the Magnet Warrior as well," (ZMW 1000/1000) (OMW 1000/1000)

Craig: 3200  
Ryan: 3000

"Puny," insulted Ryan.

"They may be now, but when they use Magnet Fusion, they come together to form, Zetacron the Magnet Warrior!" said Craig, disassembling the two smaller warriors and fusing them together to create the larger one, "Now that, ends my turn," (ZMW 2000/2000)

"You Summon such a weak monster in Attack Mode when you know what cards I have in my hand?" questioned Ryan, "You're more stupid than I suspected."

Ryan's Runner began becoming surrounded in a dark red flame, and Craig began to look worried at what dangers were about to unleash themselves.

"Now watch, brother, as the night becomes darker, and the last monster you'll ever face becomes unleashed!" said Ryan, "I sacrifice both my Archfiend Interceptor and my Shadowknight Archfiend to bring forth one of the most powerful beings in Duel Monsters!"

As well as Ryan's Runner, both his monsters were surrounded by the flames, and the monsters disappeared, ready to bring forth something big.

"Meet… Dark Red Demon!" yelled Ryan in delight, as the flames closed in and brought out a large demon, made purely of flames, which stared down at Craig, looking destructive, and was ready to use that on Craig, "His Attack and Defense Points are equal to those of the monsters I sacrificed!" (DRD 0/0 – 3400/3200)

Xxxxx

Crowler woke up, and next to him was Chancellor Sheppard, also waking at the same time. The two were stuck in a small room, with only a small light bulb dangling down from the ceiling. The door in the room slowly opened, and walking inside was a medium-sized figure wearing a mask.

"Just who do you think you are?" asked Crowler, "I have a PhD in dueling, you know!"

"You didn't use it very well," replied Karādorein, "You didn't put up much of a fight for my Anarchists."

"I'll prove it!" yelled Crowler in anger, "Put up your Deck!"

"Why? When I can do this," said Karādorein, raising both of his hands and knocking both Sheppard and Crowler to the floor without touching them, "Enjoy the Shadow Realm…"

Karādorein smiled, he sensed that a Dark creature had been summoned, and was eagerly looking forward to receiving yet another victory.

Xxxxx

"Dark Red Demon! Finish his Zetacron with Flame Fist Pummel!" attacked Ryan.

The demon's flames transformed themselves into two fists on either side of the main torso of the beast, and both one of those fists began to head towards Zetacron.

"Activate my face-down. Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" replied Craig.

"Don't you know? Dark Red Demon is unaffected by Spells, Traps and Monster effects," explained Ryan, as the Scrap-Iron Scarecrow was destroyed, and the Magnet Warrior as well.

Craig: 1800  
Ryan: 3000

Craig felt the full force of the blast, as the fist was driven straight into him, almost losing balance of his Runner; he just managed to keep it under control, slowly recovering from the large blast he had been dealt by the demon.

"I end my turn, with a face-down," finished Ryan, reveling in his younger brother's pain, "Unfortunately, when you have no monsters on your side of the field at the end of my turn, Dark Red Demon loses 500 Attack Points," (DRD 3400/3200 – 2900/3200)

Craig drew his card weakly, still in pain from the attack, "I Summon out… Nitro Synchron in Attack Mode…"(NS 300/100)

"Desperation, I see," replied Ryan, the two now driving down random streets in Domino City, most who were still up saw the demon, and became frantically scared.

"Wrong… I also activate Monster Reborn, and I bring back your Mist Archfiend from the Graveyard that was destroyed earlier on," continued Craig, slowly regaining strength, "And, it's time for a Synchro!" (MA 2400/0)

Nitro Synchron split up to create the portal of green light, which Mist Archfiend jumped up into it, separating as well, and the tunnel of light shone brighter.

"Now, watch as two become one and your grand monster is pummeled into the ground. Nitro Warrior, let's roll!" said Craig, as the green warrior jumped out of the tunnel. (NW 2800/1800)

"Newsflash, it is one hundred attack Points short," replied Ryan, laughing at Craig.

"Wrong, since I've activated a Spell Card this turn, Nitro Warrior gains an extra 1000 Attack Points, more than enough to take down your demon," added Craig, "Nitro Warrior, let's take that thing down!" (NW 2800/1800 – 3800/1800)

The warrior powered a blast up in its hands, then let is loose directly towards the flaming being in front of it above Ryan

"Activate face-down, an old card of yours, Graverobber! By giving up 2000 Life Points, I can steal a card from your Graveyard!" said Ryan.

The small goblin came behind Ryan and in front of Craig, twirling a card in its hands, which the goblin showed the Craig; Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. Nitro Warrior's attack instead hit the scarecrow, and both Graverobber and Scrap-Iron Scarecrow had served their purposes to Ryan.

Craig: 1800  
Ryan: 1000

Craig groaned, "I end my turn," (NW 3800/1800 – 2800/1800)

"And rightly so," said Ryan, "Dark Red Demon, obliterate his Nitro Warrior!"

Again, Dark Red Demon pummeled its fist of flame directly into the body of both Nitro Warrior and Craig, and Craig had to make the effort once again not to fall off his Runner, steadily holding onto the handlebars.

Craig: 1700  
Ryan: 1000

"And I think that'll end my turn," finished Ryan.

The two continued driving down the main street, reaching the end of the street quickly. From a distance, before he drew his card, Craig saw a wooden fence, with what looked like a junkyard behind it. Craig attempted to remember where he had seen it before and then he remembered.

Xxxxx

_A picture from James also appeared on his PDA. It showed a wooden fence with what seemingly looked like a junkyard behind it._

Xxxxx

Craig smiled at the sight that was coming up. From the distance, he could also see a wide, metallic ramp which had been placed in front of the fence.

"Make your move!" yelled Ryan.

"Why? I don't have to finish this duel. You've run away so many times, I think it's my turn," replied Craig, smiling.

Ryan turned left at the end of the street, expecting to see Craig follow him. Instead, Craig drove his Runner up the ramp, and over the wooden fence, and the only sign Ryan heard of Craig was a large crash, presumably as Craig hit the floor.

Ryan turned his head to look behind him, but didn't see Craig there. Angered, he turned off his Duel Disk and drove on. Ryan understood that because Craig had driven away from him, he wasn't able to win the duel technically, as he never reduced his Life Points to 0 or used a winning move or another kind.

As he drove on, Ryan thought to himself, _'Karādorein. You clearly don't trust me. From now on I fight for myself, and only for myself; and I'll make sure that I don't get sucked into your crystal. And then, I'm coming for you.'_

Xxxxx

The next morning, when it was Taniya's day to teach the class, she told the students about the unfortunate disappearance of Crowler and Sheppard, and how she had become the new Chancellor. Seeing that the classroom was generally full, she decided to call the register for the class. Running through, most were there, until…

"Craig Thresher," called Taniya anxiously.

No reply came.

"Craig Thresher?" repeated Taniya.

Still, no reply came.

"I'll be right back," said Taniya, being watched as she walked out of the classroom frantically. After she had left, Flo, Hayley and Bastion all stood up and ran after her.

Xxxxx

Taniya opened the door slowly to Craig's room, with Flo, Hayley and Bastion behind her. Staring inside, Taniya saw, nothing.

"He's not there," said Taniya, closing the door.

"Does that mean…" began Bastion.

"Probably so," replied Taniya.

"No, it doesn't, each time someone's been defeated their colours are absorbed, red and dark red are still here, which means that Craig's still out there, he must not have lost, or it was a tie or he made a move that neither of their life points dropped to zero," said Hayley and Taniya realizing that her baby sister was right nodded and with nothing more to say, Taniya closed the door and edged through the three and began walking back to the classroom. Slowly, Flo, Hayley and Bastion edged back too.

The four of them knew what they had signed up for, and they would just have to deal with the losses when they came.

Xxxxx

Please Review


	16. Duel Royal

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 16: Duel Royal **

It had only been two hours since they'd discovered that Craig was missing, but the fact that the colour red wasn't gone gave them hope.

However, Bastion needed more than just hope, he wasn't happy at all. He felt like he'd failed Hayley, even though she was safe, he knew that, he also knew that as long as Karādorein was around, Hayley would never be safe and what would happen if he couldn't protect her? If Craig hadn't been there today, well…he shuddered to think about what could have happened. Bastion stood on the beach, by the water's edge, thinking these thoughts. He was also thinking about what Spike had told them, on the day Crowler and Sheppard had been captured.

**Flashback**

"Hey Spike, we're here," said Hayley, walking into Spike's tower.

"Yeah, so what did you call us here for Spike?" asked Bastion curiously.

"Well, due to circumstances, what with Bastion unlocking a part of his power and Karādorein's constant attempts to capture Hayley I believe it is time that I told you what you don't know," said the dragon and Hayley and Bastion sat up straighter, Bastion's hands wrapping around Hayley's.

"During the battle of the past some of the objects that were in the royal treasury were four keys, they were called Power Keys. The Power Keys were created to hold four powers, like the Millennium Items. One of the keys held Psychic power with everything that goes with it, telepathy, telekinesis, you name it and it's there. However when the Royals and Tai fell and came to earth they put their auras into the keys and their auras were a specific colour. Bastion, you as Daichi had a yellow aura and you as Daichi put your aura into the Psychic Power Key, creating the Yellow Colour Key. Only the royals and Tai had a key, meaning that four keys were here on earth a thousand years ago. Now where do the other keys come in do you ask? There were four other powers from other dimensions, Flo from Earth, Chazz and Alexis from the Kingdom opposing Jaden's and Hasselberry from a dimension called Dinoland. They had powers that needed to be protected and sent their powers to the strongest source of power that resided in one dimension, this one. So they took on the form of keys, added themselves to the original four and thus the eight Colour Keys were created. Each of them holding a power or powers, waiting for the day when they would be restored to their rightful owners, the reincarnations of their past owners, you and your friends. You're with me so far?" asked Spike and Hayley and Bastion although shocked at this information nodded and let Spike continue.

"As you have found out, that when you say or do something that represents your motives or personality you gain the royal clothes your incarnations wore and as Bastion knows, slight access to the power inside you," said Spike.

"I thought the power was in the key?" asked Bastion, confused.

"No, it is in you, the power that is inside the keys is your own power that was stored there because you had too much power to control, that's what the keys were originally made for, the power is all you," explained Spike and Bastion nodded, understanding now.

Spike then gave both of them a lesson in accessing their powers and both were able to summon forth their monsters into real life, though Bastion still couldn't replicate the Psychic powers he'd used on Karādorein. Spike said that it would take time or something big to fully unlock his powers. Hayley's title as the Flower Princess and Princess of Colours was explained as well. They were her powers, she'd always had a green thumb and once she'd mastered her power over flowers she would be able to grow absolutely anything. Her power over colours was described as something that Bastion related to Rainbow Brite; once she mastered it she would be able to put any colour anywhere in the world, making it even more beautiful.

It was after Spike finished explaining this to them that they felt a dangerous energy and saying goodbye to Spike, they rushed to where the energy was, saving Crowler and Sheppard.

**End Flashback**

Hayley came up behind him, "Bastion are you ok?" she asked gently.

"No darling, I'm not," said Bastion and ran a hand though his hair, sighing, "I'm worried, I almost lost you earlier, Karādorein's getting more and more desperate to have you and I shudder to think what'll happen if I can't protect you. I can't stand the thought, my whole life is, has been about trying to find someone who understands me and loves me for who I am, who likes me for me, not for my brains, not for my cards. When I was child no one wanted to be my friend, just because I was smarter than them, because I wrote on the walls, I thought that dueling would help me make friends, but it just drove everyone away because I beat them, they thought I was showing off. It wasn't until last year I actually made friends; I've now lost three this year, Chazz and Alexis to the Colour Crystals, Jaden to the dark side… I can't lose you too, I love you too much. I can't, I just can't…" Bastion's shoulders shook and Hayley hugged him.

"Bastion, you don't need to worry, Karādorein will never win and you'll never lose me, I promise. Fate brought us together and fate can't tear us apart. When I was captured the first time and Karādorein tried to take away my memories of you, he couldn't, even though we were just friends then, he couldn't do it, our friendship and love was already too strong. Even if he does kidnap me again, I know that you'll rescue me again. I believe in you, I love you," she said.

"I love you too angel," said Bastion, smiling in spite of himself, she always knew how to make him feel better. Hayley smiled at him and began to sing softly,

_"I will always be with you_

_Makes no difference where your road takes you to_

_Even if we're apart_

_Now we're joined at the heart, _

_Though our moment may be gone, _

_You and I will still live on."_

Bastion smiled and joined her.

_"I will always be with you_

_I'll be by your side whatever you do_

_Other memories may fade, but the ones that we made_

_Are eternal as a star, _

_Now I'm part of who you are"_

_T: "And I'll be there with you in the sound of your laughter, I'll be in the tears you cry_

_B: Cause the way you and I have touched one another_

_T: Doesn't end with goodbye_

They ran down the beach, unaware that Karādorein was once again watching them, red with fury.

_B: I will always be with you_

_T: Like a guardian angel, constant and true_

_H: When you're lost in the night_

_B: Lost in the night_

_H: You can't see the light_

_T: My love will see you through_

_B: I will always be there_

_H: You'll have me there_

_T: I will always be with you_

Watching them, Karādorein growled at Larke, "Get down there and defeat her, bring her to me, NOW!" Larke scampered off, scared.

_B: I will always be with you_

_H: I will always be with you_

_T: Like a guardian angel, constant and true_

_H: When you're lost in the night_

_B: Lost in the night_

_H: You can't see the light_

_B: Can't see the light_

_T: My love will see you through_

_B: I will always be there_

_H: You'll have me there_

_T: I will always be with you"_

They ended up at the spot they'd started at and smiling at each other they kissed, as always it was magical. Unfortunately it was interrupted by a dark pink flash of light.

"Why can't we ever have a moment to ourselves?" grumbled Bastion, turning to see who'd interrupted them. It was Larke.

"I knew you'd come one day," said Hayley calmly, she'd known as soon as she'd seen the Dark Pink Colour Key around her neck. She wasn't afraid, she'd never been defeated by Larke before and she had a new deck, Larke didn't know her new strategies, but she knew all of Larke's.

"Yes, I've come to destroy you, let's duel, cousin," said Larke, referring to their past selves relationship and a Duel Disk appearing on her arm. Hayley's eyes narrowed and her key glowed pink, once again dressed in the dress of her past self. Her duel disk appeared on her arm and she shuffled her deck and slotted it in.

"Duel!" said Larke.

"Let's feel the magic!" said Hayley.

H: 4000

L: 4000

"I'll go first and I summon Honest in attack mode and play a facedown," said Larke. (H 1100/1900)

"Ok, it's my turn, I summon Whitewing – Panther of Protectiveness in defense mode, then I'll play the Spell Double Summon, so now I can normal summon once more this turn and I summon Whitewing – Pixie of Luck in attack mode," said Hayley. Like all her cards, her panther was just like a real panther but with large white wings and a gold collar around its neck. The Pixie was very small, and she had blue eyes and gold spun hair in a twisted ponytail and was dressed in a pale pink dress and tiny pink slippers and her white wings had glittery dust on them. (W-PP 1100/2100) (W PL 100/100)

"She's too weak to do anything to me," said Larke.

"You know nothing about my new deck, first of all Pixie has an effect, when she's summoned I can draw three cards and I gain five hundred life points for each of them," said Hayley and chuckled at Larke's expression as she gained fifteen hundred more life points.

H: 5500

L: 4000

"Next is Panther's effect, when he's in defense mode he can give his attack points to another Whitewing that is attacking or being attacked so he'll give them to my Pixie, who now has more attack points than your Honest," said Hayley with a grin and told Pixie to destroy Honest. (WPL 100/100 – 1200/100) (WPP 1100-2100 - 0/2100)

H: 5500

L: 3900

"I end my turn with a face-down," said Hayley. (WPL 100/100) (WPP 1100/2100)

"I'll get you, I summon Shining Angel in attack mode and I'll have him attack your Pixie!" said Larke. (SA 1400/800)

"Panther's special ability will help decrease my life point's damage," said Hayley calmly, she hated watching her monsters get destroyed but there was nothing she could do except minimize the damage. (WPL 100/100 – 1200/100) (WPP 0/2100)

H: 5300

L: 3900

"I end my turn," snapped Larke, disappointed that she wasn't able to inflict a lot of damage on Hayley.

"My draw, I play Pot of Greed and now I'll draw two more cards, now I can Special Summon Whitewing – Rabbit of Kindness, if she was drawn by Pot of Greed or Graceful Charity and her other ability is that I can return one of my Whitewings in my grave to my deck, so Pixie goes back to my deck, said Hayley with a smile and Larke growled and Bastion cheered. (WRK – 1000/800) Whitewing – Rabbit of Kindness was a very cute monster, the size of real rabbit it was snow-white and cuddly with a fluffy tail, a red bow around her neck and the wings on her back made her even cuter.

"Now, Panther's ability will help my Rabbit, said Hayley happily.

"Not so fast Princess, I activate my trap from my hand, Divine Wrath, I discard one card from my hand and I can now negate the activation of an Effect monsters effect and destroy that monster, so say goodbye to your Panther," sneered Larke and Panther of Protectiveness was destroyed.

"No!" cried Hayley, there went her strategy of high defense and attack point boosts for her other monsters. Bastion groaned in despair, darn Larke.

"Alright, I'll reveal my facedown, Heart of Clear Water, if the equipped monster's attack points are thirteen hundred or higher, this card is destroyed. The monster equipped with this card isn't destroyed as a result of battle or by the effect of a card that targets the monster but damage is applied normally," said Hayley ending her turn.

"I play Swords of Reveling Light, now you can't attack for three turns and next I'll summon Regulus in attack mode, now, Angel attack her little Rabbit, you too Regulus," ordered Larke. Rabbit wasn't destroyed thanks to Heart of Clear Water but Hayley did lose life points. (R 1700/1000) (1 turn)

"No, Hayley!" shouted Bastion, helpless as his love lost her life points.

H: 4200

L: 3900

"I end my turn," said Larke, satisfied with her damage to Hayley.

"I draw and I play Graceful Charity, so I can draw three more cards and then discard two, now to play a card I drew, my new Field Spell, Whitewing Forest. Now all Whitewings gain five hundred attack and defense points and are unaffected by Traps," said Hayley. (WRK – 1000/800 – 1500/1300)

"Heart of Clear Water may be destroyed now but that's ok. Now I'll summon Whitewing – Lion of Courage in attack mode," said Hayley and full grown tan lion with a shaggy auburn mane and large white wings on his back appeared on the field and roared, (WLC 1900/1200 – 2400/1700)

"Darn it, now I can only deal two hundred points of damage to you, your monsters are stronger than mine," said Larke angrily.

"I may not be able to attack you yet but, I can place two cards facedown and end my turn," said Hayley, she had a plan to take down Larke.

"I draw and now I'll attack your Rabbit with Regulus," said Larke.

"I play a new card, Bye Bye Damage! I can activate it only when a monster would be destroyed by battle, that monster isn't destroyed, instead, you take damage twice to the damage I receive this battle," said Hayley. Kindness was saved but she lost Life Points.

H: 4000

L: 3500

"I end my turn," said Larke bitterly. (2 turns)

"I draw and I summon Whitewing – Frog of Sincerity in defense mode and when he's summoned, you discard your whole hand and draw one card and I discard one card but then I get to draw as many cards as you discarded, which was three cards," smiled Hayley and drew three cards, (WFS – 1100/1700 – 1600/2200) A small green frog with small white wings on his back appeared on the field and croaked.

Larke drew her card and grinned evilly. This card was going to turn this duel around for her. Hayley frowned but continued her turn.

"I play a favourite of mine, the Spell card, Double Summon, now I can normal summon once more this turn and I summon Whitewing - Unicorn of Purity in defense mode, normally I'd summon her face down in order to activate her effect but your Swords are in my way, said Hayley. "I'll now play my other facedown, another favourite of mine, Horn of the Unicorn and I'll equip it to my Unicorn of Purity, which gives her seven hundred extra attack and defense points," said Hayley. (WUP 500/1500 – 1000/2000 – 1700/2700) A pretty white unicorn with a pink mane and tail, a pink horn, pink hooves with a white heart outlined in pink on her flank appeared, she had the customary white wings as well.

"Now I'll play a card from my hand, a spell called Whitewing Power, I now take the number of Whitewings in my grave and multiply it by five hundred and inflict it to you as damage and I have my Panther of Protectiveness and my Fox of Cunning I sent there with Graceful Charity, two Whitewings and you take one thousand points of damage," said Hayley, she really loved her new deck. She liked cards that could give her opponents burn damage and ones that could give her life points or make her monsters stronger.

H: 4000

L: 2500

"I end my turn with a face-down," said Hayley.

"I draw and play Pot of Greed, now I can draw two more cards and then I'll end my turn with two cards facedown," said Larke. (3 turns)

Swords of Revealing Light was destroyed and Hayley's monsters were free to attack again.

'_What's she up to?'_ wondered Bastion. He was very impressed at how well Hayley used her Whitewings.

"It's my turn, I draw and I play my facedown, Smashing Ground, now the monster with the highest defense on your side of the field is destroyed, so say goodbye to Regulus," said Hayley and the lion was destroyed but Larke began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Hayley, confused.

"You, you just signed your death warrant, or at least your soul warrant, this card in my hand will finish you," cackled Larke. "I now Special Summon Dark Pink Royal Witch in attack mode! She can only be Special Summoned when Regulus is in the grave and I have at least one spell, one trap and one light monster on my field and I meet all the requirements!" said Larke and a female monster appeared on the field. She was dark pink in colour, wearing a crown and a witches robe and lethal looking wand in her hand. (DPRW 3000/2100)

"This is bad," said Bastion, feeling the evil radiating off the creature.

"She's not affected by spells, traps or monster effects and by paying half my life points it can attack you directly with half of her attack points," explained Larke and let Hayley continue with her turn.

'_What am I going to do? I can't defeat her with any of my monsters and I can't Synchro Summon because only a Colour Monster can defeat a Dark Colour Monster, so even if I Synchro Summon Whitewing – Tiger of Steel, I still won't be able to destroy her monster. NO! I can't think like this, I'm a Princess! I've always found a way to win against Larke before and I'm going to find a way now!'_ thought Hayley and then she was in front of the famous temple, her key glowing bright pink. She went inside and walked directly to the glowing pink tablet which was of an Alicorn, she inserted her key into its horn and heard a loud whinny before finding herself back in the duel. A card materialized in her hand and Hayley grinned.

"What are you grinning for?" asked Larke, _'If she got her Colour card I'm in trouble.'_

Bastion, who'd been worried when Larke had summoned her monster to the field got the feeling that Hayley was going to win and he smiled, "Come on Starsong, you can beat her!" he cheered and Hayley blew him a kiss before returning to the duel.

"I Special Summon Pink Whitewing – Princess Luna the Moon Alicorn in Attack Mode! If Whitewing – Unicorn of Purity is on the field and has been equipped with Horn of the Unicorn and the Field Spell, Whitewing Forest is in play I can Special Summon her," said Hayley. A beautiful pink Alicorn appeared on the field, she was a light pink with slightly darker pink mane and tail. Her flank had an outline of a crescent moon on it. Her horn glowed pink with power, there was a glittering tiara on her head, a pink ribbon around her neck with a crescent moon on it and her wings were very large in pink and white. (PW-PLMA 3000/2500 – 3500/3000)

"Why is she affected by your Field spell?" asked Larke puzzled, Colour Monsters weren't supposed to be affected by traps, spells or monster effects, except for Blaze's monster but that's because he was a Fusion monster instead of a regular effect monster.

"She's not affected by my opponents Spells, Traps and Monster effects but she is by mine," said Hayley with a smile and Larke groaned. "I play the Spell Healing Wind, now I gain two hundred life points for each monster on the field, so let's see, there's Luna, Rabbit, Lion, Unicorn, Frog, your Witch and Angel, that makes fourteen hundred extra life points," said Hayley and she smirked at Larke.

H: 5400

L: 2500

"Now I'll play another Spell, A Feather of the Phoenix, I discard one card and then I can select one card from my graveyard and add it to the top of my deck," said Hayley.

"What's the point?" asked Larke, confused as to why she wasn't being attacked yet, Luna had more points than her Witch, what was Hayley planning?

"In order to activate Luna's ability and to have her attack, two spell cards have to be activated from either me, you or a spell card from each of us, then her attack points double," explained Hayley and Larke gasped. So did Bastion.

"That means that Luan's attack points will be… Seven Thousand!" he exclaimed, that had to be one of the strongest attack points he'd ever heard. (PW-PLMA 3500/3000 – 7000/3000)

"That's right, now Luna can attack my opponent's highest leveled monster, even when it is Larke's turn, but she won't have a next turn," said Hayley and her voice turned hard. "It's not like me to say this but I'll never forgive you for what you did in our past life or what you're trying to do in this one, so this is for everyone who is suffering from a lack of colour because of you and the others and Karādorein, go Luna, destroy her Witch, the highest level monster on Larke's field!" ordered Hayley and Luna galloped forward with her horn glowing and then stabbed the witch with it making her burst into thousand of pixels.

H: 5400

L: 0

The duel being over Larke screamed as she was drawn into a colour crystal with the colour of Dark Pink, then there she was, trapped in the crystal, just a tiny, frozen image, with no way out. The crystal then flew away to Karādorein's palace, fitting into place, the giant crystal now glowing with Black, Dark Black, Blue, Dark Blue, Dark Yellow, Dark Orange and Dark Pink, much to Jaden's dismay.

"Jaden, take Purple with you and go and destroy the last two Colour Key Holders," ordered Karādorein and Jaden nodded.

"Yes sir," and went to do his masters bidding. As soon as he left Karādorein flashed from the room and landed in front of Hayley and Bastion, who were sharing a happy kiss. Before either of them could react Karādorein's powers lifted Bastion into the air and threw him over the cliff.

"BASTION!" screamed Hayley and then Karādorein grabbed her, blew some sleeping powder onto her and she fell asleep. He smirked and flashed away, taking her back to his palace.

Bastion, barely holding on the cliff, reaching out with his limited Psychic senses knew what had happened and was angry, not at himself, but at Karādorein. He felt his grip begin to slip and just as he was about to fall, a hand grasped his.

"Hang on Bastion," said a voice, beginning to pull him up and another pair of hands grasped his other hand. They pulled him up to safety and Bastion, panting from his experience, looked up to see that it was Aster and Sartorius! With Serena behind them.

"Wha? Guys? How, how do you know…?" he asked, panting slightly.

"We saw the whole thing, sorry we couldn't stop him from taking Hayley, we barely got here in time to save you," explained Aster.

"Thank you. Let's go to Taniya, she needs to know that Karādorein kidnapped Hayley again," said Bastion and the four went off.

Meanwhile on another part of the Island Hasselberry and Flo were being confronted with Jaden and the Dark Purple Colour Holder, his name was T-Bone.

Somewhere else, Craig was lying on the ground, unconscious, not knowing about his friends or that they were in danger.


	17. Two at Once

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 17: Two at Once**

"What do you MEAN he got Hayley?" yelled Taniya, slamming her fist into one of the tables in the Slifer cafeteria.

"It wasn't our fault, Hayley had just defeated Larke, and the next thing we see is Bastion being blown off the edge of a cliff and Hayley getting taken away," answered Aster, having been the first on the scene to see the events.

"When I get my hands on Karādorein, I'll…" muttered Taniya.

"I wouldn't try," replied Bastion, "Karādorein has powers beyond our control and we'll need a team to take him on. Besides, there's only a few Anarchists left, two of whom we're yet to see, and one who we're unsure whether or not he's been defeated."

Taniya smiled, "And we've got me, you, Hayley, once we get her back, possibly Craig, Hasselberry and Flo left."

"Speaking of which, where are Flo and Hasselberry?" asked Aster.

"Probably in their dormitories, as should you be, off you go, time for bed," said Taniya swiftly, shuffling everyone out of her dormitory, "We'll solve the issue with Hayley, I promise, as well as Craig."

Xxxxx

It was the next day, and Flo was just leaving her dormitory, now being in Obelisk Girls dormitories, and was just about to head in the general direction of the Slifer dormitory. Since the loss of Craig, Flo hadn't been her usual self. Unlike the others, she wasn't as positive that Craig was still out there, despite the proof that red was still in the world. The long, brown-haired girl kept walking in the general direction of the Slifer dormitory, unaware of what was to happen…

Xxxxx

Hasselberry, much like Flo, was on his own, in the forest of Duel Academy, sitting up in the branches of a tree, eating his lunch by himself, searching through his Deck, thinking of a good strategy to take down his Anarchist when they came. He looked down at his Green key, which had, for the past few minutes, been shining brighter than it had done before. Hasselberry was unsure of what this meant for now, and so ignored the signs.

Xxxxx

"Purple! Jaden! In here now!" ordered Karādorein.

The two remaining Anarchists walked into the room quickly, following Karādorein's orders.

"Off you go," said Karādorein peacefully, and the two teleported away quickly. _'After they've won I'll check on my prize, my beloved Hayley. You'll be mine in every way very soon,_' he thought.

Xxxxx

The wind blew on the unconscious person's face, as it had done for a while now. Eventually Craig stirred and let out a small moan and raising himself on his elbows he shook his head, before slowly rising from the ground he had lain on for a while now. He slowly stood up, cautious of what may have been hurt in his body when he entered the area, and figured it was only his head. How Craig had entered the junkyard suddenly returned into his head as he remembered why he had come here.

Xxxxx

_Instead, Craig drove his Runner up the ramp, and over the wooden fence, and the only sign Ryan heard of Craig was a large crash, presumably as he hit the floor._

Xxxxx

Craig smiled at his own doing, angering his brother was just an added bonus, getting away from losing the duel was the main reason why Craig was happy. He spotted something familiar in one of the junk piles nearby, and walking over there, he found that it was one of the wheels from his Runner. Searching through the remaining piles, he realized that when he had crashed into the junkyard, he had broken his Duel Runner into so many pieces that it couldn't be fixed. He tossed the pieces away, and on the floor where he had lain, he saw his Duel Disk, which he walked over to and picked up, searching through the cards inside, and finding that luckily, all of the cards were there. In the distance, Craig saw a fairly small wooden shack placed directly in the middle of the junkyard; and Craig slowly walked over to the shack, cautious of what was inside.

Xxxxx

Flo continued walking in the direction of the Slifer dormitory. Suddenly, her Purple key began emitting rays of purple light, going through her body and pointing behind her. Flo slowly turned around, and found that the rays were pointing in the direction of a short, stubby man who wore a yellow cap on his head. His Dark Purple Key also was pointing rays of light towards Flo. He was facing into the ground at sniggering to himself.

"I don't understand what's so funny," said Flo.

"What's so funny? You're so funny. You fear losing this battle, you fear pretty much everything," replied the man.

"I wouldn't fear such a small man. Name's Flo, before you ask," she said.

"T-Bone. Just because you don't fear me, doesn't mean you won't fear some of the creatures I have planned for you!"

Flo stared at the man, who was named T-Bone, wondering what cards he may use and what strategy she could apply.

"Don't even bother with a strategy, you won't have time to use it!" said T-Bone.

"They say, actions, speak louder than words," replied Flo, activating her Duel Disk and slotting her Deck inside.

"Prepare yourself, Flo, because this is the last Duel you'll ever play!" said T-Bone, repeating what Flo did, as the two both drew five cards.

Xxxxx

Hasselberry also continued eating the food he had, sitting on the branch of a tree in the forest. Hasselberry's Green key began shining, revealing green rays of light which pointed towards a nearby tree. Hasselberry looked up towards said tree, and sitting on a branch was the Dark Green Anarchist, with a key that was pointing light towards Hasselberry, the person sitting in the tree was sniggering. Hasselberry immediately recognized who the person was. Jaden Yuki had returned to Duel Academy.

"Jaden?" wondered Hasselberry.

"That's me," replied Jaden, jumping down from the tree and landing without any harm.

"Why are you here?" asked Hasselberry, climbing down the tree, not wanting to take the risk.

"To defeat you and rid you from this world!"

"Sarge, you do realize, even if you beat me, you get sucked into that crystal?"

"Of course. However, Karādorein tells us that once the world is taken, all of the Anarchists will rise again and we'll rule the world with him!"

Hasselberry sighed, he realized that there was no use attempting to get into Jaden, he was brainwashed and was clearly not changing sides any time soon. Hasselberry didn't feel like attempting to get into Jaden any longer, and activated his Duel Disk and placed his Deck inside it.

"That's how I roll!" said Jaden, doing the same as Hasselberry, "Get your game on!"

Xxxxx

Craig slowly and cautiously opened the door of the shack, and peered inside. He could see a couple of rooms, each of which not looking very well-made, and only seemed makeshift. Craig realized that most of the furniture and the walls were made of the junk found in the junkyard. He stepped inside, staring up at a small, dim light on the ceiling, and soon found that there were three rooms, a lounge, a kitchen and a bedroom.

"I'm slightly freaked out about this," muttered Beta, Craig's Duel Spirit, appearing on his shoulders, knees shaking.

"And where have you been recently?" whispered Craig in reply.

"Well, since you've been chased by your freakish older brother the last few weeks, I decided my card was safer," replied Beta.

"If only I was chased more often…" said Craig jokingly.

Suddenly, the two's conversation was interrupted by a figure entering the room, whom Craig instantly recognized. Looking up at his shoulder, Beta had already disappeared; Craig presumed this was in shock of another figure.

"Well, hello there. Brother," said the figure.

Xxxxx

Flo: 4000  
T-Bone: 4000

"The challenger moves first!" said T-Bone, "I place one monster face-down in Defense Mode and I'll play a face-down card as well. Your move, dawg!"

"We've been over this. My name is Flo, not 'dawg'. As for my turn, I'll do the same as you, but with a little bit extra, play two face-down cards and then play a monster in face-down Defense Mode," replied Flo.

T-Bone drew his card and laughed hysterically, "I've already got one of my strong cards! I sacrifice my face-down card in order to call to the field, Thestalos, the Fire Monarch, and with his ability, you have to discard one random card from your hand, and if it's a monster, you lose Life Points equal to the Level of that monster x 100!" said T-Bone, as the hidden card was replaced by the statue with flames scattered around it. (TFM 2400/1000)

T-Bone selected the random card, and Flo revealed it to T-Bone.

"Magical Hats," said Flo, discarding it into the Graveyard section of her Duel Disk.

Xxxxx

Hasselberry: 4000  
Jaden: 4000

"You can move first, dino-breath," said Jaden.

"You never did have a knack for insulting others, Sarge," began Hasselberry, "My turn first then. I Summon out Element Saurus in Attack Mode, and I'll play one card face-down to end my turn. You're up, Sarge." (ES 1500/1200)

Jaden drew his card, and his eyes continued to flicker in between the normal brown colour he had and the dark green colour of his key, as he stared at his card with an evil smirk.

"My turn. I Summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode, and to end my turn I'm going to throw down a face-down," (EHC 800/2000)

Xxxxx

Upon speaking to Craig, the figure moved towards the dim light bulb, and adjusted it so that the light was brighter, and the two could see each other clearly.

"James," said Craig, "How on earth did you get here anyway?"

"Like I said, Karādorein came with a couple of his henchmen to our house, me and Dad split up and ran for it, they never caught up to us in the end," replied James, "But never mind that, why are you here?"

"I was Turbo dueling Ryan on the island. Ryan led me into Domino City, so no-one could watch the duel, and then he summoned his Dark creature, and I used the ramp from the photo you sent me to get over the fence into the junkyard. I got away from Ryan, the duel was over and I haven't seen him since," explained Craig, "Technically, that photo you sent me saved me."

"I try," replied James, "What do we do now anyway?"

Xxxxx

The Duel Runner continued driving down the street of Domino City, before coming to a halt nearby a ramp. The rider got off his Runner, and tied it up with rope to the fence nearby. The rider looked down at the ramp, and saw wheel marks across it. Grinning, the rider climbed onto his Duel Runner and leapt over the fence, landing safely.

"He's here…" muttered the rider to himself, "I'm sure of it."

Xxxxx

Flo: 4000  
T-Bone: 4000

"Thestalos the Fire Monarch, attack her face-down card now!" ordered T-Bone. The monarch powered up a ball in his hands of fire, and threw it directly towards the creature on Flo's field. The attack revealed Flo's Defender, the Magical Knight. (MK 1600/2000)

"Activate my first face-down, Magic Cylinder. This reflects your attack, and it's going straight back into your Life Points!" replied Flo.

"In return, I activate my face-down, Waboku! This reduces all of the damage I take this turn to zero," said T-Bone, grinning at Flo's failed attempt to damage him, "I end my turn,"

"And it starts mine," replied Flo, drawing her card, "I activate my second face-down, Magical Dimension, this lets me sacrifice my Defender, the Magical Knight, so that I can Summon a Spellcaster from my hand, so down goes the defense, and on comes the offence, Dark Magician, rise!" (DM 2500/2100)

From Flo's face down appeared a coffin, which Defender, the Magical Knight was absorbed into. After a few moments, the coffin opened, and the purple wizard emerged.

"There's more, when that's done, I can destroy a monster on the field! So adios to Thestalos and hello to a direct route to your Life Points," added Flo, as Thestalos was smashed into few pieces and vanished, "Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!"

The purple wizard jumped into the air, and landed next to T-Bone's feet, smiled, raised his staff, powered up a blast, and let it loose directly into T-Bone, who fell to the ground from the attack.

Flo: 4000  
T-Bone: 1500

"You'll regret that, because now I'm taking this duel to the next level," muttered T-Bone, recovering. He touched his Dark Purple Key, and formed around T-Bone was a purple circle of fire, which expanded around Flo so that both of them were encased in the fire, "Now we're playing for higher stakes, loser loses their key, winner gets to go free. There's no escape now. Let's play… for real."

Xxxxx

Hasselberry: 4000  
Jaden: 4000

"OK, Sarge, my turn now!" said Hasselberry eagerly, drawing his card, "I sacrifice my Element Saurus so that I can bring out my frontline offence, Dark Driceratops!" (DT 2400/1500)

Jaden cringed as he looked up and saw the dinosaur standing over his Clayman with ease who remained in a defensive stance on Jaden's side of the field.

"Dark Driceratops, let's show that Clayman why the prehistoric always win! Forward march!" yelled Hasselberry, as the dinosaur ran towards the warrior, preparing to put its claws into it.

"I activate my face-down-" began Jaden.

"No you don't, I activate my face-down, Dino Stomp! When a Dino monster attacks, I can destroy one of your Spell or Trap cards, so you won't be using that any time soon," replied Hasselberry, destroying the Trap Card and watching as the dinosaur resumed its assault on the warrior, taking it, and Jaden down, "And with my Dark Driceratops, you lose Life Points even if your monsters are in Defense Mode,"

Hasselberry: 4000  
Jaden: 3600

"If you wanna play rough, Hasselberry, I can play rough," said Jaden, laughing as he said it. Jaden touched his Dark Green Key, and just like a few seconds before with T-Bone, a dark green circle of flame formed around Jaden, before expanding and engulfing Hasselberry inside with it as well, "Now, the stakes are set, your time is up Hasselberry! This is the last duel you'll ever play!"

Xxxxx

"You spoke of Ryan's Dark creature," said James, "But what of your Colour Creature? Since your battle with Ryan, which everyone did actually see in the street that you drove down, rumors been spreading about these battles. I walked out this morning as everyone was speaking of it."

The two were now sitting on wooden crates, as James was unable to do much better in the current situation, with no way of paying for anything.

"Hang on, if you went out this morning, how comes you didn't spot me there and then?" asked Craig.

"Just because you prefer to get into places by jumping over the fence, doesn't mean I do. There's a gate on the opposite side of the gate. I went into town and everyone from their windows last night saw the demon. It's pretty hard to stay asleep when a large demon is screaming outside as two motorcycles go past with the riders getting hurt pretty regularly," explained James, "No-one understands just what's involved in your battle with the Anarchists though. But nonetheless, answer the question."

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think it may have something to do with this card that I used," said Craig, taking Thought Ruler Archfiend out of his pocket and handing it to James.

"Might be. The Archfiends are considered an evil Archetype, so perhaps the Colour Creature that you were supposed to get saw you as an evil Duelist because you used that one card?" replied James, shrugging his shoulders at the end, signaling that he truly had no idea, handing the card back to Craig, "How'd you get it anyway?"

"Ryan used it at Duel Academy and made it real using some orb thing, I prevented it in the easiest way possible, took the card off the Duel Disk. Ryan ran for it and never took it back, and I'm stuck with it for now," said Craig.

Suddenly, the two heard the clang of metal hitting another piece of metal. James quickly leapt up and looked out of the small window he created.

"It's him. He's found us," said James.

Craig looked out of the window after James had warned him. True enough, Ryan was outside, picking up another old piece of Craig's Duel Runner and throwing it into the junk pile of Craig's runner that he had created. James opened the door quietly without Craig realizing and sneaked out. The next thing Craig saw was James walking towards Ryan.

Xxxxx

Flo: 4000  
T-Bone: 1500

Flo attempted to hide the fact that she feared this purple circle of fire and what could possibly happen now, including T-Bone's Dark Creature.

"It's my turn, dawg!" said T-Bone, finding newfound confidence now that Flo looked scared of what could come next, "I play one card face-down in Defense Mode to end my turn,"

Flo drew her card swiftly, wishing to finish the duel quickly, "I'll add Herald of Creation to my offence, and then Dark Magician is going to attack your face-down card!" (HC 1800/800)

Once again, Dark Magician powered up its attack and powered it down towards T-Bone, which destroyed T-Bone's Dummy Golem. (DG 800/800)

"Fool! When Dummy Golem is destroyed, I get to have control of the monster that destroyed it, so hand over your Dark Magician!" replied T-Bone, laughing hysterically. Dark Magician landed and then suddenly became still as if it was tightly restrained, and slowly was forced over towards T-Bone, became free, and then faced Flo, wielding its staff in an offensive position, causing Flo to cringe slightly.

"I end my turn there," finished Flo.

"Haha! You've surrendered to my force, and how I have taken the monster that your entire Deck is based around! For the first move of my turn, I use the card Monster Reborn to bring my Dummy Golem back from the Graveyard!" began T-Bone, "And then, I sacrifice them both to summon … Demiurge Ema in Attack Mode!" (DG 800/800) (DE 3300/2000)

Last turn, Flo was the person dominating the field, now, her victory seemed almost impossible as T-Bone brought out the angel-like golden creature, flying in the air above Flo.

"Demiurge Ema, attack her pathetic Herald of Creation!" ordered T-Bone. Flo stared up at the fairy, and the next thing she felt was a large amount of pain as she was brought to the floor. She realized that the fire was to make this a proper duel that actually hurts a long while back, and was now feeling the force.

Flo: 2500  
T-Bone: 1500

"I'm…not…out…yet," said Flo, rising up again slowly.

"You're right. However, I have a monster with over 3000 Attack Points, and you have, nothing," replied T-Bone, "I'll end my turn with a face-down."

Xxxxx

Hasselberry: 4000  
Jaden: 3600

Hasselberry looked around at the circle of fire for a moment, before turning back to Jaden.

"I end my turn there," finished Hasselberry.

"Then I'm up!" said Jaden, "I activate Monster Reborn, returning my Clayman to the field. Then, I'll sacrifice my Clayman to Summon out Evil Hero Malicious Edge in Attack Mode! The reason I can summon this with one Tribute is because you have a monster on your side of the field!" (EHC 800/2000) (EHME 2600/1800)

The human-sized warrior came onto the field, and withdrew its hands to show the sharp claws it had on the ends of its hands. Hasselberry was shocked at Jaden's monster, sure Bastion had told them he'd changed his deck but… it was different seeing the actual thing.

"Malicious Edge, attack his Dark Driceratops with Diving Swipe!" attacked Jaden. The warrior jumped up into the air, held its claw out, and dived towards the dinosaur, and quickly slashed straight through it, and into Hasselberry, who fell to the ground.

"These duels…" he thought, "This circle of fire… it makes the pain more real…"

Hasselberry: 3800  
Jaden: 3600

"I end my turn, so get up and make yours you coward!" ordered Jaden to the downed Hasselberry, who slowly rose from the power of the attack.

Xxxxx

"It's good to see you again, big brother," said James.

Ryan rapidly turned his head to face James, "What do you want?"

"I'd ask the same thing for you," replied James.

"I'm looking for your other brother, the coward who runs from battle. If you don't have any information, then scram!" said Ryan, yelling the last word, as James was taken aback by the sudden change in tone.

James turned around and slowly began walking back to the shack, leaving Ryan to do what he was doing.

"Wait," said Ryan suddenly, as James turned around, "You know something."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," replied James, slowly edging backwards, sweating slightly.

Ryan walked over to James quicker than he anticipated and picked him up by his collar, "Where is Craig?"

"Look. I don't know where he is," replied James, saying the words slowly, fearing what Ryan could do.

James found himself thrown against one of the junk piles, Ryan standing over him, "I'll ask you one last time, where is Craig!" Ryan yelled, James now finding any method of escape, Ryan preventing every one of them, each time James ended up back where he started, thrown against the junk pile, getting more hurt each time.

Ryan turned around to face the shack, behind him a hurt James who had given up attempting to evade his brother, before Ryan yelled out, "This is your last warning Craig! You have ten seconds to walk out of the shack or else I'll make sure our puny brother regrets the day he ever tried to hide you!"

Craig remained inside the shack, no longer watching the events, only listening out of his brother in pain and Ryan's demands.

"Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three…" began Ryan, counting down, anticipating Craig's arrival.

Xxxxx

Flo: 2500  
T-Bone: 1500

Flo rose from the ground slowly, and drew her card, "I activate, like you, Monster Reborn, to bring back Dark Magician from the Graveyard. Then, with my magician, I activate Knight's Title!" Flo said, "This transforms my magician from the wizard that he is into a warrior like no other. Dark Magician Knight, come forth!" (DM 2500/2100) (DMK 2500/2100)

The wizard's staff was replaced with a sword, and its robes were transformed into armor, and it swung it's sword around and faced it towards T-Bone, who laughed, "It's still too weak, just like your entire Deck!" he yelled.

"Wrong, when Dark Magician Knight is Special Summoned, he can destroy one card on the field. So there goes your Demiurge Ema!" replied Flo, as the Dark Magician Knight stuck a sword directly into the large fairy, which was destroyed, amid cries from T-Bone.

"I can activate Threatening Roar! This prevents you from attacking for this turn," said T-Bone.

"I end my turn there then," finished Flo.

T-Bone drew his card and laughed, "I activate Dark Hole!"

Suddenly, the field was cleared of Flo's Dark Magician Knight, and she was left wide open, "Then, I Summon Mine Golem in Defense Mode, to end my turn," said T-Bone (MG 1000/1900)

Xxxxx

Hasselberry: 3800  
Jaden: 3600

Hasselberry rose from the ground and drew his card, "I'll play Black Stego in Defense Mode…" he said. (BS 1200/2000)

Jaden laughed at the demising Hasselberry, drew his card, and drew a large grin on his face, "I activate Dark Fusion! This fuses Malicious Edge with Caius the Shadow Monarch from my hand to form Evil Hero Malicious Fiend! And the best part is, when he attacks a Defense monster, damage is still dealt!" said Jaden, and as if the last sentence was an indication to attack, Malicious Fiend tore apart Black Stego and sent Hasselberry tumbling into the ground. (EHMF 3500/2100)

Hasselberry: 2300  
Jaden: 3600

Xxxxx

The door of the shack opened, and Craig stepped out silently, edging his way towards Ryan.

"You weren't supposed to leave! You're not supposed to let him find you!" yelled James, who found himself thrown against the junk pile again by Ryan.

"Quiet small one. It's about time you showed up Craig, I've been looking for you ever since you evaded me last time," said Ryan.

"I'm not too scared. You might want this back whilst you're at it," said Craig, now standing close to Ryan. Craig took Thought Ruler Archfiend out of his pocket, and threw it towards Ryan, who raised his hand and caught the card, checking it and placing it back into his Deck.

"That doesn't matter; don't think your favors will stop me. I still have to defeat you," said Ryan.

"I gathered; and I only figured evading you was payback for the amount of times you'd done it for me," replied Craig.

"Don't give me your reasoning, I just want to finish us off," replied Ryan, activating his Duel Disk.

Craig looked down at James, who was still hurt on the junk pile, staring at Craig. Craig saw James mouth "Run," at him, unbeknownst to Ryan.

"I left my Duel Disk in the shack," said Craig, turning around to go and get it.

"I'm coming with you, I'm not letting you get away," added Ryan, beginning to follow Craig.

"Oh no you don't, not this time," muttered James, using the junk pile as a platform to jump off and onto Ryan's back, holding him back and pulling him down into the ground. Craig looked behind and saw that Ryan was down, and began running into the shack, picked up his Duel Disk and his Deck, and ran out of the back door and out of the gate which James had mentioned before, just hearing the sound of Ryan's anger and James running as well.

Xxxxx

Flo: 2500  
T-Bone: 1500

Flo drew her card, and suddenly she felt she was in a different place. Opening her eyes, she found that she was in a mysterious, large temple. She saw eight tablets, and she immediately recognized this place as the temple that Taniya and the others had described to them. She could realize that the tablets resembled the Colour creatures. The red, green and purple were still glowing brightly, the black and blue completely faded, whilst the orange, yellow and pink were faded, but still glowing. Flo walked up to the pink tablet, took her key and inserted it into the slot she recognized as a lock. When turning her key, she found herself back in the real world, and she turned her card, and on the card was the exact creature she had seen on her tablet.

"What's the reason to smile?" asked T-Bone.

"Here's the reason, I've got a card to destroy you. By removing from play the last monster that you destroyed, I can Summon out Purple Light Magician!" said Flo, as from in front of her rose a magician which shone purple light ray around it, "It has the same amount of Attack Points as the card that was removed, as well as an extra 300 Attack Points for each card in my hand. Purple Light Magician, obliterate his Mine Golem with Shining Magic Attack!" (PLM ?/?) (PLM ?/? – 3400/2100)

The magician leapt into the air, dove down towards Mine Golem, and swung it's staff into it, which released a burst of light, blinding the two duelists. When the light cleared, the golem was gone and Purple Light Magician again resided on Flo's side of the field, leaving T-Bone shocked.

Xxxxx

Hasselberry: 2300  
Jaden: 3600

Hasselberry drew his next card, and found himself in the temple that Flo had found herself in just moments before. He realized that only his and Craig's Colour monsters still needed to be retrieved. He smiled to himself, placed his key into the slot of his tablet, turned the key, and found himself facing Jaden again, who looked worried at Hasselberry's smile.

"Here goes… When my opponent has more Life Points then me, I have no monsters and you do, I can instantly summon to the field… Green Berserk Dinosaur in Attack Mode!" said Hasselberry, as his large dinosaur rampaged onto the field, towering over Jaden and Malicious Fiend, "And when he attacks a monster, he gains half of that monster's Attack Points for the duration of the battle," said Hasselberry (GBD 2500/2500)

"Half?" questioned Jaden.

"I'll do the math, that's 4250 Attack Points! Green Berserk Dinosaur, attack and destroy his Malicious Fiend!" ordered Hasselberry, and within a few seconds, Malicious Fiend went from to protecting Jaden to protecting itself from the saliva of the dinosaur. The dinosaur then went for Jaden, kicking out and sending him to the ground. (GBD 2500/2500 – 4250/2500)

Hasselberry: 2300  
Jaden: 2850

"Your turn, Sarge," finished Hasselberry, with a large grin on his face.

Xxxxx

Craig continued running, he knew that if he stopped for a second, Ryan could catch up. Craig was at a disadvantage anyway, he was on foot, whereas Ryan had a Runner to use.

Craig reached the bridge that led to Duel Academy, and quickly realized that there was no way across. He also remembered that both he and James had a PDA, each of which was equipped with a tracking device, so if Ryan stole James' PDA, he could quickly locate Craig if he didn't do something quickly. Near the bridge, Craig spotted a manhole, and realized his last resort was to travel to Duel Academy with some other method. He opened the manhole and cautiously clambered down.

Xxxxx

Flo: 2500  
T-Bone: 1500

T-Bone slowly rose from the ground, and drew his card, still recovering from the attack dealt to him by Purple Light Magician, before laughing at the card he drew.

"Now watch as a real monster enters the scene. By removing a monster in my Graveyard from play, such as Demiurge Ema, I can Summon out… the Dark Creature known as Dark Purple Hydra!" yelled T-Bone, as the circle of fire surrounding the two closed in on them both, "As in the circle closes in, the fire pulls back and reveals… a world without colour! Dark Purple Hydra, rise!" (DPH ?/?)

The battle looked prepared, the gigantic mythical Hydra, against the power of Dark Purple Magician.

"His Attack Points are the amount of the monster removed from play with an addition of 1000!" explained T-Bone, "Dark Purple Hydra, eliminate her Magician with Hydro Tail Slam!" (DPH ?/? – 4300/0)

Flo could only watch in horror as the Hydra slammed down onto the magician, obliterating it to shreds.

Flo: 1600  
T-Bone: 1500

"And when Hydra destroys a monster, you lose Life Points equal to its Attack Points! So, goodbye, dawg, but the duel's over…" said T-Bone, giving Flo a thumbs down as Hydra slammed its tail into Flo once more.

Flo: 0  
T-Bone: 1500

The circle of fire began closing around them both, T-Bone accepting that he was about to be taken away, Flo lying on the ground in pain. The last thing she could do was take Purple Light Magician off her Duel Disk and throw it outside of the fire before she was sucked away, leaving it on the ground outside where the two had dueled and then all purple and dark purple was drained from the world.

Xxxxx

Jaden drew his card, and began laughing hysterically, his eyes constantly flickering between green and brown.

"It's over, man! By reducing my Life Points to 1, I can summon out Dark Green Basilisk!" said Jaden, as the basilisk rose from the circle of fire to face Hasselberry, and his dinosaur. (DGB 3000/3000)

Hasselberry: 2300  
Jaden: 1

"It gets worse, by discarding my entire hand, and removing every card in my Graveyard from play, Dark Green Basilisk can slither under your defenses and attack you directly! It's over dino-breath!" attacked Jaden. The basilisk slithered towards Hasselberry, through his dinosaur's legs, and whipped Hasselberry with its tail, before ramming it's head directly into him, knocking him into the ground in pain.

Hasselberry: 0  
Jaden: 1

Jaden laughed as the green circle of fire sucked him up, laughing even as he lost his ability to remain in the world. Hasselberry, like Flo, lay on the ground in pain as he was sucked up out of his own will. Green and dark green were drained and now, with only pink, orange, yellow, red and dark red left, the world was a very bleak and sad place and other colours had also been drained, such as lilac, lavender, brown, grey, turquoise and others.

Xxxxx

Taniya ran outside the Obelisk Girls Dorm, and she saw nothing in the area except lack of colour. It was only minutes ago where they had all seen the Hydra and the magician waging war on each other, and Taniya ran over to investigate. Nothing was visible, except Taniya spotted a card on the ground. She soon realized this had been Flo's Colour Creature, and looked down in the ground, feeling upset.

"We're too late… Flo…" muttered Taniya, walking towards the Obelisk Boys Dorm, prepared to give the card she had found to Flo's older brother, Jacob.

Xxxxx

Bastion and the others arrived in the forest, and like Taniya, found nothing, not even a card. They had also seen the dinosaur and the basilisk above the tree line of the forest, and had come to investigate.

"There's nothing here… there's no green left in the world… Does that mean…" began Aster.

"It must… Hasselberry's down," replied Bastion.

Xxxxx

Karādorein laughed in glee as the four keys landed on his table. He hooked each of them up onto the Crystal above him, the Purple Key, the Dark Purple Key, the Green Key and the Dark Green Key.

"Now that's treasure… Soon, the final battle will come, and only I shall emerge victorious, and rule this world as my own…" said Karādorein to himself. He then left his throne to check on his prize. In a feminine room lay Hayley. She was in a deep sleep.

Karādorein looked at her and placed his hand on her cheek but even in sleep she knew he was not someone she trusted and flinched away, making Karādorein angry, even angrier when she muttered his rival's name.

"Bastion," and a tear slid down her cheek, even in sleep she wanted him.

'_I will make her mine if it's the last thing I do. We…of the colours …were meant to rule together. I will destroy Bastion, obtain immortality and make her love me; we will rule the world together!'_he thought and then left, determined to get rid of Bastion for good.

Xxxxx

Ryan drove up to the bridge of his Duel Runner. In his dash to escape, James had left his PDA, which Ryan had taken in an attempt to locate Craig. Ryan looked around the bridge area for him, and could see Craig's PDA dot travelling in the water area. Ryan presumed that Craig was swimming back to Duel Academy, and Ryan figured he would never catch him, as Craig was a faster swimmer than him and the Runner couldn't go into water. In his anger, he rode away from the area, leaving Craig for another opportunity.

Xxxxx

Craig, in fact, was actually travelling underwater, using the sewage system. He was to admit that it wasn't the best of smells in the system. However, he figured that if Ryan was to enter the system, he would hear him thanks to the echoes of the sewers, and the Runner wouldn't be able to fit into the sewers. Beta, like previously, appeared on Craig's shoulder.

"When do we get out, Craig? It stinks of Gamma in the morning down here!" asked Beta.

"I'd ask the same question, but this is the safest route," replied Craig.

Craig continued walking, when he saw a beam of light coming down from above, it was another manhole, with lights entering from around the edges. He opened up the manhole, and clambered his body up, and saw himself nearby the bridge of the island of Duel Academy.

"It's good to be back," said Craig to himself.

Xxxxx

Please Review


	18. Obstacle Course Rescue

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 18: Obstacle Course Rescue **

"Yellow, Red, Dark red, Orange and Pink, five colours left for Karādorein to take, Craig hasn't been found yet and Hayley's been kidnapped. Bastion, you and I are the only ones left here," said Taniya after assessing the situation.

"What are we going to do Taniya?" Bastion asked, the young genius was feeling as though he was missing an arm or leg, or, rather, part of his soul. He knew that it was because of Hayley, after she was his soul mate. He also felt helpless, they'd hit a dead end and he didn't know where to go from here.

"I don't know Bastion, I don't know," she said.

"How about kicking Karādorein's butt," said a voice that they hadn't heard in a while and turned to see Craig grinning at them. He was dirty, he smelled, his jacket was a bit torn and he looked tired but he was there.

"Craig!" they yelled and rushed over to him.

"How did you escape Ryan?" asked Taniya.

"What happened?"

"Where have you been?"

"Woah, slow down. First question, I rode up a ramp to a junkyard during our duel and my Runner got smashed. I found James hiding in the junkyard and then Ryan came along and I had to make a break for it. James got away as well. I knew that Ryan could track me with the tracking device in my PDA so I went through the sewers that lead to Duel Academy and here I am," explained Craig.

"It great that you're back Craig. Now things look a bit better. The question is, how are we going to rescue Hayley?" asked Taniya.

"Rescue Hayley? What happened to Hayley?" asked Craig, he already knew, by the lack of purple in the world that Flo was gone but he didn't know about Hayley.

"Hayley defeated Larke but Karādorein came and blasted me off the cliff and then kidnapped her," said Bastion clenching his fist in anger at Karādorein.

"Uh oh, how'd you get out of the cliff situation?" asked Craig, he was now worried for his friend.

"Aster and Sartorius were around and they saved me."

"How are we going to rescue my little sister, that's what I want to know," said Taniya.

"Well…I have an idea. Since I'm the only one who's been to Karādorein's palace and I have psychic powers, maybe I could teleport us there," suggested Bastion hesitantly, knowing that it was risky.

"Are you crazy? You barely have any control over your powers!" yelled Taniya.

"If I use my powers in conjunction with the power of my key I think I can do it," said Bastion.

"No, I…" and was cut off by Bastion.

"Taniya, I know I can do this, I'm not doing it for me or to prove anything. I'm doing this for Hayley, love can do anything, you and Hayley taught me that," and seeing the determination in his eyes, Taniya gave in.

"Alright, tomorrow," she said and cut off the boy's protests, "No, tomorrow, Craig is exhausted and so are we, let's freshen up, eat, get a good night's sleep and after a good breakfast we'll go. I'll tell Fonda and Satyr where we're going, now go to your dorms," said Taniya and the boys did as she said; after all, she was right.

The next morning, Craig and Bastion met Taniya at the Coliseum

"Ready when you are Bastion," said Craig cheerfully.

"Alright, hold onto my shoulders and keep quiet," he said. They did so and Bastion focused on his key and on his inner powers and wished with all his might to teleport to Karādorein's palace to rescue Hayley. He began to glow a yellow colour, edged with faint traces of purple, the glowing got brighter and brighter and then there was a flash of light and the Coliseum was empty, Bastion had done it.

They arrived in another flash of light, right in front of Karādorein's palace. Taniya and Craig had never seen it before and gasped in awe and but Bastion was all business and strode up to the door and was about to open it when Karādorein appeared on the balcony above it.

"I must say, I'm impressed you got here but you won't get in," he said and snapped his fingers, the ground opened up and the three heroes were sucked into darkness.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile, in her room in the palace, Hayley stirred, Bastion was here.

Xxxxx

Bastion, Taniya and Craig landed hard on the ground and lay there for a moment, stunned.

Craig sat up and rubbed his head, "Ow, my head."

Bastion then propped himself up with his elbows and then got onto his knees and looked around, "Everyone ok?"

Taniya groaned but said, "Yeah, apart from the bruises."

They got up and looked around; they were in a cave that had three doors, one on the left, one in the middle and one on the right.

"Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that we're going to have to spilt up and take one each," said Taniya.

"Karādorein is trying to weaken us by splitting us up, the old divide and conquer technique," observed Bastion, looking closely at the doors, wondering which one to choose.

There was a symbol on each door, a fist, a heart and a lightning bolt. Bastion felt each of the symbols and made his decision. "I'm taking the heart door. It'll lead me to Hayley, I know it," he said.

Taniya looked at the doors remaining and used her Amazon senses to help her figure out which one to choose, she felt a pull coming from the fist door. "The fist is mine," she said.

"Ok, then Lighting is mine, good luck guys," said Craig and walked towards his door and opened it and then disappeared. Bastion and Taniya looked at each other and nodded. They opened their doors and went in.

Xxxxx

Craig's door led him down a dark tunnel with torches on the walls. It made it all the more spooky and he shivered slightly.

"This is creepy," he muttered to himself. The tunnel came to an end and Craig found himself in a gymnasium. "What the heck?"

"Hello Red Key Keeper, in order to get across to the other side and into the castle you have to pass several obstacles. Fail one and you die," said Karādorein's voice. Craig gulped, he was ok at gym but he wasn't the best. Not to mention he'd sprained his ankle when he'd fallen off his runner after making the jump to escape Ryan. He wasn't sure he could do this.

He then heard the doors slam shut behind him and gulped, there was no way but forward now.

He walked up to the first obstacle which was a one hundred yard dash.

"Ok, so I just run," muttered Craig and then Karādorein laughed.

"Not by yourself," and Craig saw two, previously hidden walls open up and two skinny, full grown lions walk out and he gulped. They came towards him, growling hungrily and he turned and ran, the lions chased after him.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU KARĀDOREIN!" he screamed but didn't get a reply apart from mocking laughter. He'd never run so fast and his ankle was killing him. It almost got him killed when he tripped and it seared in pain. The lions were almost on him. He struggled to get up but somehow managed and started to run again just before they pounced. This made the lions land in a heap and gave Craig some time. He never knew how he managed to run the rest of the way but he did and a wall started going up after he crossed the finish line, effectively blocking him from the lions. He heaved and wheezed, he was so out of breath.

He looked up to see something that made his heart sink, a swimming pool… with sharks in it.

"Great," he groaned and looked around for another way but there were walls on either side of the pool and the only way was to go forward. "Ok Craig, think, you did that project on sharks when you were still on good terms with Ryan, what do you remember?" He asked himself. "Let's see, sharks don't attack humans unless they're bleeding or are hurt in any other way. A shark's nose is really sensitive and they attack at two to three feet of water so I need to stay closer to the surface. I also need to avoid excess splashing and movement. They normally swim away after one bite because they are simply exploring what is in the water as they don't have hands or anything else. Well, I guess, I should get ready," he said.

He pulled off his shoes and socks, tying them up in his jacket and tying that around his waist. He took a deep breath and gently lowered himself into the pool and slowly began moving forward, staying at the top, only lifting his head for air, gently using his arms to move forward. He noticed that all the sharks were the ones involved in fatal, unprovoked attacks, the Great White, Tiger, Bull and Whitetip; he gulped at the last one, it was a very dangerous shark.

Xxxxx

As Craig was currently risking his life Bastion was simply following his tunnel which seemed endless. "How long is this thing?" he asked himself. His question was answered in the next ten seconds as he came to the end of the tunnel. He stepped out of the tunnel and into a room with mirrors all around the walls and a blue mat on the floor. There was also a variety of weapons on several tables, along with armor. Bastion raised an eyebrow, "Ok, so this is a physical test, but why the mirrors?"

"Ha, I'm so glad you asked Bastion," came the mocking voice of Karādorein from nowhere.

"Where are you? Where's Hayley? If you've hurt her I swear I'll…"

"Now, now Bastion we mustn't loose our temper, must we. Hayley is fine, I would never hurt her. These mirrors are going to let you see the future, Hayley's future in fact and you'll have to face twelve different monsters, each one a Warrior from level one to level twelve, I sure you can guess that they only increase in difficulty the higher their level. With each one you face and defeat you'll see an image of Hayley," explained Karādorein.

"There's more to it than that isn't there? Tell me!" shouted Bastion.

"Once you've defeated all twelve monsters and only if you defeat them, will I give you a riddle that you'll have to figure out in order to leave here," and the tunnel behind Bastion closed, effectively trapping him. "Select your weapon," and Bastion, knowing the only way he was going to get Hayley back was to play this game, walked over and selected a rapier.

Then, a mirror with a single star on it shimmered and then Hayley appeared. She was sitting on Karādorein's lap and giggling as she fed him a grape. Bastion was mad but he knew he had to stay calm; otherwise he'd be defeated before he'd began.

"Lovely sight isn't it? Your first opponent is Armed Ninja," announced Karādorein and the door opposite Bastion, which he hadn't noticed, opened to reveal Armed Ninja.

He walked to the middle of the floor and bowed to Bastion, who bowed back. They sized each other up for a moment and then, without warning, they both leapt forward, Ninja with his scythe and Bastion with his rapier. It was short as Bastion was the superior fighter and Ninja disappeared as Bastion caught him in a position that declared him dead.

"Next mirror," said Karādorein. The mirror with two stars glistened and it showed Hayley accepting a kiss on the cheek from Karādorein. Bastion kept his face impassive and mask-like. He would not let it get to him and he would not give Karādorein the satisfaction of seeing him get angry.

"Your next opponent, Amazoness Scouts," and two Amazons ran through the door, one holding a bow and arrow and the other holding a sword. Bastion gritted his teeth and sprung into action, quickly disarming the one with the sword and going in very close so that the other could not fire her bow. Once he relieved her of it they disappeared and Bastion was forced to watch Hayley sleep on a luxurious bed with a picture of Karādorein on the nightstand next to her.

His next opponent was Arcane Archer of the Forest and then came the level four, Big Shield Gardna. His shield was tough to break but Bastion found its weakness and advanced to level five, Flame Swordsman. That battle was hot and Bastion got a small cut but he prevailed and once again watched a mirror, this one had Hayley and Karādorein locked in a passionate embrace while kissing and Bastion was hard put to control his anger.

Xxxxx

Meanwhile Craig had survived the sharks without any incident, traveled across hot and sticky tar and had swung on monkey bars to avoid moving, flaming hoops. He was panting and his ankle was killing him and his hands were raw after thirty monkey bars.

"Damn it, what next?" he asked and was answered when the floor ahead of him began to slide backwards to reveal… spiders, thousands upon thousands of spiders, all of them tarantula's. Craig went as white as a sheet, his greatest fear was spiders and there was no other way across besides walking into the mess of spiders and coming out the other side. _"Karādorein, I'm going to kill you,"_ Craig whispered as he stood about a foot away from the step that lead into the pit of creepy-crawlies.

"I hate spiders, I hate spiders, I hate spiders, I hate spiders…" said Craig before gathering up every last scrap of his courage before it left him completely and slowly walked into the pit with spiders covering him until he was no longer visible.

While Craig was busy dealing with his fear and Bastion fighting off monsters Taniya was walking down her own path, it was very boring and very long, "Trust me to get the long one. Hayley, little sister, I hope you're ok," she said and then stumbled as she tripped on a rock and then bashed her head on the door in front of her. "Ow," she said, rubbing her head and then opened the door to see nothing but large cave like room. "Well, this is exciting," she said and saw the door on the other side and began to cross the room when she heard the unmistakable sounds of a Duel Runner.

The wall on the left began to crack and then it broke as a well known Duel Runner came skidding into the room. "Ryan!" exclaimed Taniya in shock.

"Taniya," he said calmly.

"How in the world did you get here and why are you here?" asked Taniya with a challenge in her voice.

"First answer, that's for me to know and second answer, I'm here to duel Craig and show Karādorein that it's not wise to just cast me aside like an old shoe. Now, get out of my way," said Ryan.

"I don't think so Ryan, Craig's my student and if you want to find him and duel him you'll have to go through me first," said Taniya, activating her Duel Disk. _'The fist on the door. Did Karādorein know that I'd be dueling Ryan for my challenge?'_ she thought.

"Fine, I could use a warm up," said Ryan and detached his Duel Disk from his Runner and activated it.

"DUEL!"

Now, back at the gym Craig was sitting down on the other side of the spider pit with his arms around his legs, trembling, trying to calm himself down after that horrific experience. As for Bastion he'd just finished off his Level 11 monster and was watching the mirror, this one was of Karādorein touching Hayley while they were dancing and by now Bastion's temper was at the exploding point.

"Congratulations Bastion, you made it to the final round. Met your level twelve opponent, Dark Guardian," said Karādorein. The truth was, as he watched Bastion battle Dark Guardian, he was very impressed that Bastion had managed to get this far. Impressed but not happy, that meant that if Bastion won he had a one in twelve chance of solving the riddle and finding Hayley.

Bastion flipped forwards and struck Dark Guardian, winning his fight.

"Well done Bastion. You have actually managed to will all twelve fights. As promised here is your riddle. Twelve mirrors, all part of my master plan, find the real one if you can. Eleven traps, choose the wrong one and your thread of life will snap."

"Hmm, only one image is real and the rest all lead to my death. I know that all of them are fake, so it must be one that's more realistic than the rest," said Bastion and looked at the mirrors carefully and then he knew which one it was. "Number three, where Hayley is sleeping."

"Curse you!" snapped Karādorein and the mirror shimmered and then opened up to reveal a hole which Bastion quickly climbed through. Karādorein was furious, damn, why did this castle force them all to tell the truth and keep their agreements? Well, he could at least make it harder for Bastion to reach Hayley and he waved his hand.

Bastion found himself outside a maze of corridors and groaned, how was he supposed to know which way to go now? He sighed and decided to go down the middle path, after all, anyone with an once of logic knew that the shortest way to anywhere was through the middle. After managing to keep a slightly straight path he came across two doors.

The doors were of average height, made of solid oak with doorknobs of the purest gold. Neither had a keyhole to them, and didn't look locked. In front of each, however, was a statue of shining gold, one male and one female.

"Another riddle?" asked Bastion out loud and Karādorein answered.

"Yes. You must choose one of these doors. One question and only one question may you ask of _one_ of the guardians. Be warned: one speaks only the truth. One speaks only lies. One door leads you to the continuation of your quest. The other leads to your destruction. Choose carefully."

Bastion was looking at the guardians, a frown on his face but more one of concentration than anything else. The reincarnated prince _knew_ he'd seen something like this before, but he couldn't place just where at the moment. It would give him the key to it if he could remember. ..Two people, one of whom only lied, one of whom only spoke the truth, and you could only ask one something, and you only had one question. . .

Then he knew. He walked up to the woman-statue and looked at her. "Would he," he indicated the male one. "Tell me that this door leads to the castle and to Hayley?"

"Yes," was all she said and Bastion smiled and as he came up to the door, both statues vanished, and the door swung open. Again Bastion smiled briefly as he stepped through the doorway which lead him into a short corridor that had another door at the end. He opened it and saw who he most wanted to see. "Hayley!" he shouted in happiness and ran to her, he knelt next to her sleeping form and kissed her.

Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she saw her handsome Prince Charming looking down at her with a smile on his face. "Bastion, you came, I knew you would," she said with tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Of course I came. Are you alright," he asked, pulling her into a hug.

"Now I am, how did you get here?"

Bastion told her what had happened and then they decided to get out and look for Taniya and Craig.

Xxxxx

Craig was currently finishing off his obstacle course, twenty high jumps while being chased by a rabid Kangaroo. "Shoot, Karādorein sure has a twisted and sick sense of humor," he muttered as he cleared the last jump and dashed through the doors that closed behind him, leaving the kangaroo behind but he would have Nightmares for a long time afterwards.

"Well, now that that's over, time to find the others," he said and was about to start off when he heard a feminine scream , it couldn't be Hayley, so that meant that it could only be…. "Taniya! Hang on, I'm coming!" and he dashed down the corridor and entered a room where he saw a horrific sight. Taniya was facing Ryan and his Dark Colour Monster!

**Xxxxx**

**Please Review**


	19. The Losing Team

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 19: The Losing Team**

Ryan: 3600  
Taniya: 500

"You have no monsters on the field, and you're facing off against my Dark Red Demon. Tell me, Taniya, are all of the Key holders as easy to destroy as this?" insulted Ryan, staring down at Taniya. (DRD 3500/2700)

Craig was still outside the doorway, watching the duel through the window in the locked door, which prevented him from entering.

"There's one main issue here. If you were to attack me now, you'd only finish yourself. Once you return my Life Points to 0, you get taken into the Crystal as well," reminded Taniya, smirking as she felt as if she had gotten one up on Ryan.

"You're right. That's why I have no intention of returning your Life Points to 0. I activate my face-down card, Last Turn! This pits my Dark Red Demon, against any monster in your Deck, and the winner takes the match immediately. You fought well, actually you fought pretty badly, but either way, you'll need to pick a card," activated Ryan, as he began laughing as Taniya sunk to her knees in face of defeat.

Taniya eventually accepted defeat, and chose Amazoness Swordswoman as her monster. Craig, behind the doorway, had a large worry that the only way forward was against Ryan.

"Dark Red Demon, finish her off with Demonic Destruction!" ordered Ryan.

The demon, much taller than Ryan himself, released a burst of energy that finished both Amazoness Swordswoman and Taniya in the blink of an eye. The attack of the demon also broke down the door that was stopping Craig from entering the room. Climbing over the rubble that was once the door, Craig ran in and immediately knelt down besides the fallen Taniya, although just as he reached her, she was absorbed into the crystal and so was the colour orange, only the Key Holders being spared from the Colour absorption.

"You don't even want her! It's me you wanted" yelled Craig in anger.

"You're wrong. I'm here to destroy the remaining Key holders, and then I'm going for Karādorein," replied Ryan.

"You'll have to get through me then," said Craig, staring down Ryan, refusing to show fear.

"You're right, I do. However, I happen to know that Bastion was led to Hayley through his corridor. Both are reasonably weak strength-wise, Bastion having fought a load of physical battles and Hayley because of the position she's been in recently. Why couldn't I go and duel them instead, that would be much easier, as they're weak. Why shouldn't I go and crush your friends and then come back to finish you off when you're emotionally shattered, giving me an easy victory," said Ryan, as Craig realized that Ryan had this planned all along.

"Because I'm going to make you an offer I know you won't refuse. You never reduced Taniya's Life Points to 0. I offer you this, we resume the duel from the same Life Points, with me taking over Taniya, but we reset our Decks," offered Craig, slotting his Deck into his Duel Disk, knowing what Ryan's answer would be.

Ryan grinned, and reset his Deck into his Duel Disk, "You've made a big mistake offering me that, and by the end, you'll have regretted it,"

Craig looked down and thought to himself, _'He might be right… But even if I lose, it gives Bastion and Hayley more chance to recover. The two of them have got more chance against them then me.'_

"Are you ready or not?" questioned Ryan.

"Ready as I'll ever be," replied Craig, activating his Duel Disk, as Ryan did the same.

"Now let's finally see which one of us is the true victor at dueling," said Ryan, grinning whilst drawing his five cards, as Craig did the same.

Ryan: 3600  
Craig: 500

"I'll go first," said Ryan, "Your disadvantage is worse already, I activate Pandemonium to the field immediately."

Craig stared around the field as the circular room became engulfed in the evil-looking arena, with Ryan standing on one side looking happy and Craig on the other.

"Now, I don't have to pay Life Points to use Archfiend monsters and whenever you destroy an Archfiend, I can bring one from my Deck to my Hand, as long as it has a lower Level then the one you destroyed," explained Ryan, "I Summon out Archfiend General in Attack Mode, and that'll end my turn," (AG 2100/800)

Craig stared at the position he was in, and down at his hand, in his hand he had Junk Synchron, Beta Chick, Negate Attack, Omicron the Magnet Warrior and Graceful Charity. He drew his card and Craig smiled to himself; he remembered what he was doing this for, for those who had previously lost to the Anarchists. He looked up at Ryan confidently, who looked surprised at the turnaround in Craig.

"It's my turn, Ryan. Firstly, I Summon Beta Chick, in Defense Mode, and I'll place one card face-down to end my turn," said Craig. (BC 500/500)

"Taking the conservative approach, I see," replied Ryan.

_'The position I put myself in… I'm not entirely sure I've got much choice in the matter… Defense is all I can do until I find a strong enough way of finishing him off, before he finishes me…'_thought Craig.

Xxxxx

"Fools… I have them right where I want them. All three of these kids are weak. Craig shouldn't be around for much longer, Ryan will finish him off soon hopefully, and even if he wins, he'll be too weak to pose a threat, as will Ryan when he comes. And then there's Bastion and Hayley… both are also incredibly weak after what they've been through, and they've no idea of where to go, so they'll be no threat either… it's only a matter of time…she will be mine forever then…" muttered Karādorein, laughing to himself the whole time.

Xxxxx

Bastion and Hayley had escaped from the room of which Bastion had originally found Hayley, and had been in a continuous corridor for the previous moments, walking continuously along it, looking for the end of it.

"Bastion, I don't wish to doubt, but where are we actually heading?" asked Hayley, keeping close to her boyfriend.

"I personally have no idea. However, there's no other way except for backwards, and Karādorein wasn't in that direction…" replied Bastion, gripping her hand tighter in his, he wasn't going to lose her again.

"I just hope Taniya and Craig are doing fine," said Hayley, looking up at Bastion to get his response.

"They'll be fine. They're both strong enough to get through this, we'll see them at the end when we duel Karādorein…" added Bastion, attempting to re-assure Hayley, while having silent doubts.

Xxxxx

"Taniya's down, Craig, and you're next. It's my turn!" said Ryan, "I add Mad Archfiend to my field in Attack Mode. It's over Craig, Mad Archfiend, attack his pathetic Beta Chick and finish this!" (MA 1800/0)

Ryan looked smug as he was certain that the match was over, although Craig looked down with a slight smile on his face.

"Not now. Activate face-down, Negate Attack!" said Craig, as Mad Archfiend suddenly hit a portal which blocked it from moving any further, as Ryan looked agitated that he had been held up.

"You're just avoiding the inevitable, I end my turn," finished Ryan.

Craig drew his card, perhaps looking a bit more confident than he should due to the situation he was in, although thinking to himself at the same time as to how to win.

"Just give up, I've annihilated you before and I'll do it again," reminded Ryan.

Craig immediately remembered the last time he had dueled Ryan and finished the match.

Xxxxx

_"Helios Duo Megistus! Finish him!" yelled Ryan in glory._

Craig felt the full force of the blast, falling into the ground in agony. Ryan laughed at Craig's demise, before turning to James, who was trying to escape, teleported so he landed directly in front of him, then grabbing him, ignoring his resistance, and teleported away again with James.

Xxxxx

Ryan laughed as he watched Craig play the moment back in his head, although Craig soon came to focus and stared at Ryan again.

"Time to properly get moving… I Summon Junk Synchron to my field in Attack Mode, although he won't be around for long, as it's time to give our little hatchling a Tune-Up!" said Craig confidently, as the green tunnel emerged and covered the two creatures. (JS 1300/500)

"You and your pesky little Synchros…" muttered Ryan.

"Now let's see who's going to do the annihilation… Junk Warrior… let's roll!" said Craig as the purple machine hovered above his head on his field, "Since Beta Chick was sent to the Graveyard, I also get to Summon out Beta the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode," (BMW 1700/1600) (JW 2300/1300)

"You may have the strongest monster on the field, but you're still thirty one hundred Life Points behind, a weak monster like that will do very little when I bring out the big guns," replied Ryan.

"But it's also good to get a heads up, Junk Warrior, let's take out the trash on his Mad Archfiend!" attacked Craig, as Junk Warrior hovered over to the Mad Archfiend, and obliterated it in one attack of its weapon, inflicting damage onto Ryan as well.

Ryan: 3100  
Craig: 500

"I end my turn with a face-down…" finished Craig, with a big grin on his face as he now had the advantage.

Ryan drew his card, with the same blank look he had had on him most of the time since he'd changed to the Anarchists, but soon changed, looking extremely pleased at the card he had drawn.

"Such a shame to see your so called powerful monster vanish so suddenly… I sacrifice Archfiend General to Summon out Summoned Skull in Attack Mode!" said Ryan, as the fiend-like creature rose onto the field, lightning bolts erupting from his body, "Summoned Skull, attack his Junk Warrior!" (SS 2500/1200)

Upon its order, Summoned Skull powered up an electrical ball in its hands, before pushing it vigorously in the direction of the purple warrior.

"Not happening, activate a special face-down card… Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! It's one of Hayley's favourite cards. This prevents your attack, and then goes straight back to its Set position…" replied Craig, grinning at how yet again he had the advantage.

"You can only hold me off for so long…" muttered Ryan, "I play one card face down to end my turn…"

"And to start mine!" said Craig, drawing his card.

"I activate my face-down card… Destiny Board!" said Ryan, as a ghostly letter 'F' appeared above him, "With this card, at the end of your turn, this card brings out a new letter until the word FINAL is spelled, and then I win the Duel…"

"And since my Life Points won't hit 0…" replied Craig, suddenly realizing.

"I won't get taken into the Colour Crystal…" said Ryan, laughing at the victory that was in his sight, "It also means this duel is ending in four turns… No matter what."

Craig looked at his hand, and saw he had nothing that would help him at this time, although when he looked in his other hand…

"I'd better get a move on then, and I'll start now, I Summon out Magnetic Synchron, and he's going to give Junk Warrior a further Tune-Up!" said Craig, as the two monsters began to Tune together again. (MS 1000/1000)

"What weak monster are you bringing out now…" said Ryan, not bothering to focus on what Craig was Summoning.

"You'll see… Magnetic Warrior, come on out!" said Craig cheerfully, as the life-sized pale warrior appeared on the field, "And for the turn it's Summoned, it gains half the non-Tuner monster's Attack Points, which is 1150!" (MW 3000/3000) (MW 3000/3000 – 4150/3000)

Ryan cringed again at Craig's new; much stronger monster emerged onto the field, as it withdrew its weapon preparing to strike.

"Magnetic Warrior, attack his Summoned Skull with Magnetic Shockwave," attacked Craig, as Magnetic Warrior ran towards Summoned Skull swiftly and stuck its sword straight through the fiend's chest, obliterating it to pieces before returning to Craig's side of the field.

Ryan: 1450  
Craig: 500

"I end my turn," finished Craig. (MW 4150/3000 – 3000/3000)

Suddenly, the board that was above Ryan's head began moving around, eventually landing on the letter 'I'.

"That's F-I I guess, that leaves me with three more turns…" murmured Craig, as the ghostly 'I' appeared above Ryan next to the letter F.

"That means it's my turn now…" said Ryan, drawing his card, "I activate Double Summon, meaning this turn I can Summon two monsters to my field this turn, so I Summon Shadowknight Archfiend, and Pandemonium Watchbear(1300/1800), and a face-down ends my turn," he said. (SA 2000/1600)

"Someone's taken to the defensive," commented Craig jokingly.

"I didn't ask for your opinion," replied Ryan defensively.

"Ryan, how did we get here, hmm? A few years back, we were inseparable. Remember that time when we were both at school and James was in trouble?" began Craig, "All those years ago?"

Xxxxx

_It was lunch at the school the Thresher brothers went to. Duel Monsters was being played most lunches, although some chose to stay well away._

Craig was sitting down peacefully, not doing much, when his younger brother, James, approached him looking fairly upset.

"What's wrong? Where's your deck that you had?" asked Craig, noticing his brother.

James didn't say anything, but pointed at two bulky looking kids, who were laughing as they searched through a deck of cards. Craig looked around, and spotted his older brother, Ryan, moving towards the two with an angered look in his eye. Craig followed him and approached him.

"What's happened?" asked Craig.

"Those two just demolished James unfairly in a duel, two against one, when they won they took his Deck, so I'm going to get it back," replied Ryan, "You can help if you want,"

"Right…" wondered Craig, questioning how he could assist and how Ryan was going to get James' Deck back.

Ryan approached the two boys, who stared at him, "How about trying to get another Deck, or better, two," challenged Ryan.

"You couldn't defeat us, we got bought the best cards around to make sure we could beat anyone!" replied one of the two, as both of them activated their Duel Disks, which Ryan did the same. Craig then realized that this was a tag duel and he was Ryan's partner, and then activated his own Duel Disk.

Xxxxx

"Naturia Exterio, finish him!" ordered Ryan, as the giant creature attacked the first child and finished him off, "You can do the rest little brother…"

"I'd be glad to, Valkyrion, end this," said Craig, as the magnetic human-like being jumped a large distance and attacked the second child and knocked him down.

Ryan walked over calmly towards the two, searched through their pockets and picked out James' Deck, and walked off again, smiling at his younger brother and his other younger brother as he returned his Deck.

Xxxxx

"Don't remind me; that was the old Ryan" said Ryan.

"Funny… I liked the old Ryan… I place Alpha the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode, and then Magnetic Warrior is going to attack your Pandemonium Watchbear!" replied Craig. (AMW 1400/1700)

"No, I activate Threatening Roar! This means you can't attack with anything this turn," retaliated Ryan.

"I end my turn there then," said Craig disappointedly, knowing that he had wasted another turn, as Ryan's card activated again, releasing an 'N' above his head.

"You've got two turns left…" replied Ryan, drawing his next card, "And those two turns have just been a load more difficult, as I sacrifice both my Shadowknight Archfiend and my Pandemonium Watchbear in order to bring out your demise… Dark Red Demon, emerge!"

Ryan's field was cleared, and a red circle of fire appeared in front of him, which soon paved way for the large demonic creature, which stared down Craig, who now looked fearful of his position.

"Remember, Dark Red Demon is powered by the monsters that were sacrificed to summon him, so that's bringing his Attack Points right up." (DRD 0/0 – 3300/3400)

The large demon appeared to grow in size, towering large over Craig and his two monsters.

"Remember, Dark Red Demon gets to attack all monsters on your side of the field, and it stops all Spell or Traps that are activated. Dark Red Demon, obliterate!" ordered Ryan, looking much more confident now that he had the obvious upper hand, and as Dark Red Demon attacked, neither of Craig's monsters stood a chance, and all of Beta, Alpha and Magnetic Warrior were obliterated.

Ryan: 1450  
Craig: 200

"I end my turn, and unfortunately when I end my turn and you have no monsters on the field, Dark Red Demon loses 500 Attack Points…" finished Ryan, grinning at Craig on the floor, reeling from the attack of the powerful fiend. (DRD 3300/3400 – 2800/3400)

Craig slowly rose again, looking exhausted, having taken the blow that he just had. Ryan laughed at Craig's weakened body as he slowly drew his card again, although Craig looked very displeased at the card he'd drawn.

"I Summon… Delta… the Magnet Warrior in Defense… Mode," said Craig weakly, as his next creature appeared on the field, looking incredibly weak in comparison to Ryan's demonic monster. (DMW 1400/1500)

Ryan laughed, as the next letter 'A' appeared above his head, leaving him one letter away from completion, "You have one turn left," he said, as he drew his card, "Dark Red Demon, send his Delta back to the scrap heap," joked Ryan.

As requested, and with little effort, Dark Red Demon again knocked Delta and Craig down into the ground.

"Don't bother getting up this time, you've got one turn left, and you don't have a card strong enough in your Deck to take down both Dark Red Demon and the remainder of my Life Points in one turn," said Ryan, as Craig rose slowly, "I end my turn," (DRD 2800/3400 – 2300/3400)

"When Delta is destroyed… I get two Magnet Tokens Summoned to my side of the field," added Craig, drawing his card as well, before suddenly everything went bright, Ryan was invisible, and Craig found himself in a different area. (MT 1000/1000) ×2

Xxxxx

Whilst Ryan and Craig were battling, Hayley and Bastion had still found no end to their seemingly endless corridor, Bastion looking determined that there was an end to the tunnel, Hayley perhaps not so sure.

"Bastion, I'm not so sure this tunnel ends, it's probably just a Karādorein mind trick to try and stop us," said Hayley, the light bulb suddenly going off.

"You're right. But there's not much else we can do… Unless… Blackwing – Armor Master, arise and break down the wall!" replied Bastion, focusing his powers and his creature appeared in front of him and took down the stone wall next to the him and Hayley. Inside looked like another room, with two corridors leading in opposite directions. The two stepped inside and continued, shocked at how Bastion's attempt succeeded, it had given Bastion a slight headache though.

Hayley however noticed and made him stop and they both sat down. Hayley then gave Bastion a massage on his back and his head and Bastion held her afterwards and they drew strength from each other's love. After short but sweet kiss, they got up, feeling better after their rest and Bastion was feeling stronger both physically and mentally. Hayley wasn't as weak as she had been either.

Xxxxx

"Where on Earth on am I…" muttered Craig to himself, now looking at the temple that was in front of him. Cautiously, Craig entered the temple and took a look around. Inside, he saw eight tablets, each with a carving of a creature on them; however five of them were colorless, whereas there was a pink outline on one and a yellow outline on another, whereas there was one fully glowing with the colour red. Craig recognized his key glowing as well and realized his key had to be inserted into the tablet. Doing so, he was blinded by yet another light, and he found himself back on the field, facing Ryan. Drawing his card, he drew his next card, with a sudden look of confidence on his face.

"I don't remember you feeling so confident when you're about to lose everything," said Ryan.

"Ryan, your power, unfortunately ends here. I sacrifice both of my Magnet Tokens in order to release my new creature, Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior!" said Craig with power, as the red beam of light overshadowed the two Tokens, vaporizing them and bringing forth the human-sized red-armored warrior, holding two scimitars with electricity flowing around them, one in each hand, "What's the best part? He gets 300 more Attack Points for each Magnet Warrior in my Graveyard, and that's three overall…, which means, this duel, I'm afraid is over," said Craig. (RS-KMW 3000/3000) (RS-KMW 3000/3000 – 3900/3000)

"No… How…" muttered Ryan, sinking to his knees at the sudden turn-around of the match, looking down at his key which was glowing.

"I'm sorry Ryan, but there's no other way, Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior, attack his Dark Red Demon now!" said Craig, as the red warrior jumped up swiftly towards the enormously sized demon, withdrew its weapons, and plunged them directly into the demon, which knocked it, and Ryan down.

Ryan: 0  
Craig: 200

"Well done, it's about time this came to an end," said Ryan, sounding weak, "You dueled well, but you'll have to be a lot better to defeat Karādorein and since all of the Anarchists are now gone… Karādorein's able to…"

Ryan's sentence was cut off by the Colour Crystal appearing and absorbing Ryan and Dark red into it and as Craig watched, he considered what Ryan was attempting to tell him before he was taken rather than show emotion over the matter. Walking towards the door Ryan had been blocking, which had mysteriously opened upon his defeat. Craig entered, and he heard a booming voice upon his entrance.

"Well done, young Key holder. You've done well to avoid a loss so far but there is only so far you can go. The end lies in wait at the end of the corridor but have your friends survived?" said the voice, Craig obviously knew this was Karādorein again trying to make him lose focus, and he continued down the tunnel without any worry.

Xxxxx

Hayley and Bastion had chosen one of the doors in the room they had entered, and were making progress at last, entering a few more rooms along the way, eventually; they came across a room which seemed dark and gloomy. The two however, spotted a huge glowing crystal on the other side of the room, with fifteen keys hanging from it, just as the two began approaching the crystal, evidently the Colour Crystal, the room opened up and separated into four platforms, Hayley stood on one, Bastion on another, whilst one platform was a large amount bigger than the remainder of them and contained the Colour Crystal on it. The Colour Crystal had every colour except for Red, Yellow and Pink in it and looking closer both Bastion and Hayley saw images of Chazz in the black part and Alexis in the blue part, all wearing expressions of shock.

"You think I'd make it that easy…" said Karādorein, appearing from a door behind the Crystal, and taking stage on the biggest platforms, facing the two, "If you look behind you, the door you entered from is now secured shut, and the floor beneath you is now converted into molten magma, so just try and escape," he challenged, sending a smile across to Hayley who shivered in disgust.

"Karādorein, your futile attempts at capturing us will not succeed," replied Bastion.

"I have no intention of capturing either of you. My intention is to finish you in particular so I can rule the world with an iron fist with Hayley by my side!" said Karādorein.

"I've had enough of you Karādorein, it's about time we finished this once and for all," said Hayley, eager to begin the battle and get this psycho off her case.

"Don't think you're starting without me," said Craig, walking in through the door onto the remaining platform that was vacant, "Good choice of scenery here Karādorein, so romantic," he said sarcastically.

Karādorein laughed as if he was insane at the arrival of Craig, "This is fantastic! The three of you, all here together, prepared to lose at my hands. But where is Taniya, or Princess Sunny as she was once known?" asked Karādorein, although he knew what had happened.

"Craig… where is Taniya?" asked Hayley, a feeling of dread creeping into her heart but looking at the Crystal properly, she knew.

Craig looked down at the ground, obviously affected by the mention of Taniya, "Taniya dueled Ryan… and lost. Ryan's down as well."

Hayley tried to hold back her emotions and then faced Karādorein with eagerness, "Karādorein, because of you my sister's been taken from me but we're going to defeat you and then she and everyone else returns to us."

"So be it, we should begin. It's about time, it's the Colour Drainer against the ancient Prince Daichi and Princess Wisteria, and then there's their Protector, Tai, the famous warrior, but then again if you were a Protector, Taniya would be here, and it'd be four on one, wouldn't it?" intimidated Karādorein, although Craig refused to show anger towards him.

Bastion activated his Duel Disk to diffuse the situation, as Karādorein laughed, "The fate of the world, resting on Duel Monsters. If that's the way you wish for it to be, that it can be that way, but it is three against one, bit unfair, no?" said Karādorein.

"I'm sure that's the last thing you're worried about," replied Craig.

"But it is, a duel should be fair, even if the world depends on it. How about this, I get 12,000 Life Points, you each get 4,000. You three go first in whichever order, and then I go, I think that's fair," offered Karādorein.

"Fine. Let's get this started," replied Hayley, activating her Duel Disk, as well as Craig.

"So be it," said Karādorein, activating his Duel Disk as well, "Here we go then, let the end of the world commence!"

Xxxxx

Please Review


	20. The Final Battle

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 20: The Final Battle**

"Are you fools ready to begin this battle?" questioned Karādorein.

"Ready as we'll ever be," replied Bastion.

Craig: 4000  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 12000

"I'll go first," said Craig, looking down at his hand, and thinking to himself, "I haven't got much of a starting hand here… All I can begin with is… Zeta the Magnet Warrior, and when he's summoned out and is the only monster on my field, I can bring out Omicron the Magnet Warrior for 500 Life Points, and then I can fuse the two together to create… Zetacron the Magnet Warrior, in Attack Mode, and I'll play a card face-down to end my turn." (ZMW 1000/1000) (OMW 1000/1000) (ZMW 2000/2000)

Craig: 3500  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 12000

"It's my turn!" said Hayley, drawing her card, "I'll add to our monsters with Whitewing – Panther of Protectiveness in Defense Mode!" (1100/2100)

Karādorein looked down at the ground, as if he was hardly paying attention, looking bored at the duel, "Come on, I don't have too much time," he said.

"Good, you won't be here long," said Bastion, "I'll also Summon Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield in Defense Mode, and if a Blackwing is on the field, I can also Summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear in Defense Mode as well, and that'll end my turn." (B-MSS 100/1800) (B-BS 1700/800)

"Is it my turn at last?" intimidated Karādorein, "I activate Dragon Mastery as my first card, but you'll find out it's effects later, but first, I Summon Dragunity Militum and by using Dragon Mastery, I can equip it with another Dragunity monster from my hand, and I choose the Tuner, Dragunity Phalanx, and it's effect allows me to change it from being an Equip card to its original Monster form, and since it's Level 2, and Militum is Level 4, it's time for a Synchro Summon…"(DM 1700/1200) (DP 500/1100)

"Shoot/Bugger! He Synchro Summons too?" asked Craig and Bastion at the same time and Hayley swallowed, thinking that this was not good. Karādorein laughed.

Immediately, Dragunity Phalanx broke itself up into the green particles and surrounded Dragunity Militum and began creating the Synchro monster…

"Key holders, this is only the beginning, I give you, Dragunity Knight – Gae Dearg!" said Karādorein confidently, as out of the bright tunnel appeared a red and fearsome-looking dragon appeared on Karādorein's side of the field, facing the three Key holders with a offensive stare, "Gae Dearg, attack Bastion's Bora the Spear!" (DK-GD 2400/800)

The attack took Bastion by surprise, as his Bora the Spear was annihilated by the force of the dragon's attack.

_'Why'd he attack me…' _wondered Bastion, _'Craig has a monster in Attack Mode, so surely it would've made more sense to get him…'_ and then it hit him, he was in Karādorein's way…of what he wanted the most, _'Hayley.'_

_'I'm not so sure about this, he's targeting Bastion for some reason. However, I've got very little of this past life compared to what Hayley and Bastion have, so I'm sure they know the reason behind it,_' thought Craig.

'_He wants Bastion out of the way, to get me,'_ thought Hayley and was determined that they would win this duel.

"Fools…" muttered Karādorein, "I end my turn with two face-down cards."

Craig drew his card eagerly, and smiled at what he had drawn, "It's time to go a little further into this battle… I fuse the Delta and Eta Magnet Warriors in my hand to form Depsilon the Magnet Warrior!" (DMW 2600/2300)

Karādorein laughed as if he was insane, and stared down at Craig, "You don't think I don't know every card in your Deck? I know Omega's your strongest monster, so don't think you're summoning it… Activate face-down, Icarus Attack! By Tributing my Gae Dearg, I get to obliterate two monsters on your side of the field, and I choose your Depsilon and Bastion's Mistral the Silver Shield!"

Mistral the Silver Shield was destroyed, as Bastion grunted at how Karādorein had depleted his forces again, but Craig laughed at Karādorein, "You don't know much about how the Magnet Warriors fuse then, once a turn they can defuse into their original forms, so Depsilon, reforms back into Delta and Eta, but they can't form again until next turn, but either way, you're now wide open, Zetacron, you're up first, obliterate Karādorein!" (DMW 1400/1500) (EMW 1700/1200)

Zetacron ran towards Karādorein, preparing to attack him, however Karādorein simply laughed again.

"How close you were… activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Gae Dearg, I hope you didn't miss him after your last encounter, Gae Dearg, counter-attack!" (DK-GD 2400/800)

Zetacron was blasted to pieces by the strength of the reborn dragon, as Craig looked annoyed at how Karādorein had taken the lead against him again.

Craig: 3100  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 12000

"I'll end my turn where I am," finished Craig, ignoring Karādorein's smirking.

"And I'll begin," said Hayley, "I Summon Whitewing – Dragon of Power in Attack Mode to my field, and just to show you the power of my Deck, I'll add Shine Palace and Horn of the Unicorn, each giving it 700 Attack Points," declared Hayley. (W-DP 2000/300) (2000/300 – 3400/1000)

Karādorein still gave no worried response as Hayley's monster grew in size and grew to be larger than Karādorein's dragon, "Bring on your pitiful creature," he said, making Hayley glare at him.

"It's time for dragon against dragon. Dragon of Power, attack his Gae Dearg!" attacked Hayley, as Dragon of Power inflicted the first bit of damage onto Karādorein, who hardly flinched.

Craig: 3100  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 11000

"A reaction would've been nice…" muttered Craig and Bastion nodded, annoyed at Karādorein.

"I'll end my turn there," replied Hayley.

"Now it's my turn," began Bastion, "I Summon Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite in Attack Mode, and straight away he'll attack your Life Points!" attacked Bastion, as his monster swiftly appeared on the field and struck Karādorein, who again, didn't move. (B-ZE 1600/1000)

Craig: 3100  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 9400

"To finish my turn, I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Black Whirlwind, this means whenever I Summon a Blackwing monster from now, I can add a Blackwing monster from my Deck to my Hand, as long as it has less Attack Points then the one I Summoned," said Bastion.

"I guess it's back to me again," said Karādorein, still wearing his mask, as he drew his card.

_'Is that… a crack in his mask?'_ thought Hayley to herself, noticing the mark in Karādorein's mask, _'That wasn't there before, and maybe if we damage him, he'll slowly loses his disguise… Big lot of good his disguise does him though…We've already seen what he looks like…'_

"I can't do much, so I'll just play Dragunity Darkspear in Defense and I'll play one card face-down to end my turn," finished Karādorein. (DD 1000/1000)

Craig smiled at how little Karādorein had done with his turn, and drew his card, hoping for something good. Looking at the card, Craig saw it was his newest card, Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior. Craig immediately remembered the first time he used the card, and the power he saw it behold…

Xxxxx

_"I'm sorry Ryan, but there's no other way, Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior, attack his Dark Red Demon now!" said Craig, as the red warrior jumped up swiftly towards the enormously sized demon, withdrew its weapons, and plunged them directly into the demon, which knocked it, and Ryan down.  
_  
Xxxxx

Craig stared at the card for a while, playing the moment over and over in his head when he defeated his older brother, when he remembered his younger brother, James, who he had last seen at the junkyard when they saw Ryan, and James had possibly saved Craig by helping him escape.

"Ruling the world can't wait forever now," said Karādorein.

"It can, because you won't be doing it. I have a family to think about, unlike you," replied Craig.

"Well, you did a damn good job of destroying one of your siblings. What you need to worry about is your other one…" intimidated Karādorein.

Craig remembered that he hadn't seen James since he got away from the junkyard area, and although it had only been a few days, Craig never doubted Karādorein, "What have you done…" he asked aggressively.

"Your father may be a tough little blighter to catch, and we still haven't found him, but after Ryan left the junkyard, I went and found your younger brother, who was recovering from him injuries, dueled him into submission and he now resides in my Colour Crystal, as the colour white," said Karādorein and Craig looked up and saw that Karādorein spoke the truth, there, just like that others, was James.

Craig felt himself becoming more and more angry, he knew he had finished off Ryan, but he knew that was something he had to do, but now his younger brother had gone as well made him even more annoyed with himself and his carelessness, "You'll regret that…"

"Why? You couldn't harm a fly with that pathetic Deck of yours," said Karādorein.

Craig ignored the comment, and began his move, "I sacrifice Delta and Eta the Magnet Warriors to bring out my ultimate warrior… Red Super-Kinetic Magnet Warrior, let's… roll!" (RS-KMW 3000/3000)

The two smaller warriors vanished into a cloud of smoke, which slowly cleared, and in its wake stood the human-sized creature, covered in its red armor and holding its two scimitars, looking eager to attack.

"Alright Craig!" cheered Bastion, pumping his fist.

"Way ta go!" cheered Hayley and then she stopped, "Wait a minute Craig! Why could you just summon it, I mean, all our Colour Monsters have Special Summoning conditions, why can you ignore yours?" she asked and both boys realized that she was right.

Karādorein laughed with joy as Craig's monster appeared on the field, "It's about time you three began this duel for real!" he said. "I'll explain about your Colour monsters too. If there are more than two duelists that hold Colour Monsters in a duel their Summoning Conditions change but their other effects stay the same. Among you, there are three Colour Monsters, meeting the requirements, also, you would have to be facing me in order for their Summoning Conditions to change," he said.

"Sounds way too convenient," muttered Bastion, he was sure that Karādorein was up to something and how did he know about the change in the Summoning Conditions anyway?

"It may be convenient but I'm going with it and now as an added bonus, my warrior gets 300 more Attack Points for every Magnet Warrior in my Graveyard for the first turn it's on the field, and that's Zeta, Omicron, Zetacron, Delta and Eta, so he's getting a bonus!" Craig added, as the red warrior absorbed more power from Craig's Graveyard, "Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior, attack his Dragunity Darkspear!" (RS-KMW 3000/3000 – 4500/3000)

At an incredibly quick speed, Craig's warrior appeared on the other side of the field, and a moment later, he was back on the Craig's side, leaving Karādorein's beast slaughtered on the floor.

"I'll end my turn with that as well as a face-down," finished Craig, feeling impressed with his move. (RSKMW 4500/3000 – 3000/3000)

"Impressive, Protector, however, let's see if your Princess can back that up," replied Karādorein, only looking more eager now that he was losing.

Hayley drew her card as well, and smiled.

"I assume it's something good?" asked Bastion, looking at Hayley and feeling confident.

"You bet. It's time to make this even more interesting. After all, if it worked for Craig, it'll work for me, I sacrifice Whitewing – Panther of Protectiveness and Whitewing – Dragon of Power, to bring out the ultimate Whitewing!" began Hayley, as her two monsters slowly vanished.

_'Yes…' _thought Karādorein, _'Bring your creature to me…my beautiful princess.'  
_  
"Pink Whitewing – Princess Luna the Moon Alicorn, arise!" said Hayley, as in front of her appeared. She was light pink with a darker pink mane and tail. Her horn glowed pink, and there was a glittering tiara on her head, a pink ribbon around her neck with a crescent moon on it and her wings were very large in pink and white. (PW-PLMA 3000/3000)

"Well isn't this interesting," said Karādorein, "We have two Colour Monsters on the field now; this is getting very fun…"

"It's about to become a lot more fun," replied Hayley, "This is for Taniya. Princess Luna, attack him directly!"

Luna galloped forward towards Karādorein, weapon at the ready, Karādorein again showing no sign of emotion.

"Dragunity Knight – Gae Dearg, rise again from the grave with Call of the Haunted," Karādorein retaliated, as Princess Luna's attack only destroyed Karādorein's dragon, even if it still inflicted damage. (DK-GD 2400/800)

Craig: 3100  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 8800

"Well, that was futile," said Karādorein, trying to intimidate his opponents, although it was to very little effect, "Let's see what the Prince can do…"

Bastion drew his card, trying to forget for Karādorein was saying, and upon seeing his card, also grew a smile similar to that of Craig's and Hayley's when they drew their card the previous turn, "I activate Monster Reborn, bringing back Blackwing – Bora the Spear in Attack Mode," began Bastion. From the other side of the field, Bastion spotted Karādorein smiling at the beginning of Bastion's move, "I wouldn't be smiling, because this is about to become a lot harder for you, I sacrifice both my monsters to bring my ultimate Blackwing, Yellow Blackwing – Jaswinder the Storm!" (B-BS 1700/800) (B-JS 3000/2700)

Just as his teammates had done, Bastion's monsters slowly disappeared, and the huge yellow humanoid bird with yellow armor and a lightning bolt in his clawed hand appeared on the field.

"I get to see the third one, each as useless and futile as the next," said Karādorein.

Bastion ignored Karādorein's comments, and continued with his turn, "Jaswinder the Storm, attack him directly with all your might!"

The Blackwing flew over to Karādorein swiftly, withdrew his lightning bolt, and swung it down on Karādorein, who, despite the power of Bastion's monster, still barely flinched.

Craig: 3100  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 5800

Looking over at Karādorein, the three saw his mask split further down his face with the powerful attack, and the crack was almost halfway down the length of his face now. Nonetheless, Karādorein still looked fearless, despite how he faced the power of the red Magnet Warrior, the pink Whitewing and the yellow Blackwing. Karādorein drew his card again, and laughed eagerly.

"Thank you Key holders… Just… Thank you, it's been a pleasure," said Karādorein confidently, "Unfortunately, things must take a turn for the worse, for you anyway,"

The three Key holders were silent, curious about what Karādorein had planned.

Karādorein laughed again, "Fools! Thanks to you, this duel is mine, because you have depleted my Life Points so much…"

Karādorein held his card up in the air, before placing it down with power on his Duel Disk.

"Here's how this card works, I can only summon it when my opponent's total Life Points are higher than mine, and since yours is 11100, they are. My Life Points immediately become 0, and this card becomes my last line of defense, and can only be destroyed by a Colour Creature, and isn't affected when a Spell, Trap or Effect targets it, and from now, Colour Monsters must always be in Attack Mode, and when they're destroyed, they're removed from play," explained Karādorein, "So please Key holders, welcome the almighty Dark Rainbow God!" The Colours from the Colour Crystal were pulled into the summoning of the awful creature and the trio watched in fear. The three creatures, once looking extremely powerful over Karādorein, now looked puny, as the creature rose up behind Karādorein, all black and with a head covered in a mask resembling Karādorein's. The creature had a fearsome presence around it, which should've caused anyone to surrender. (DRG 6500/6000)

"Six thousand five hundred attack points!" cried Craig.

"How can we defeat that horrible thing?" asked Hayley.

"I knew the summoning of our monsters was too convenient!" cried Bastion.

Craig: 3100  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 0

"That's right, here, in this room the rules changed, I needed you to summon your monsters easily, so I used the power of the captured colours to do so. Now let's see how much longer you can all survive," said Karādorein.

"Just because you have some large creature, doesn't mean we're surrendering," replied Craig.

"Since you're so eager…" began Karādorein, "I think it's time we took our first player out of this duel,"

Dark Rainbow God cracked its neck and pummeled its fists together in preparation for an attack.

"Dark Rainbow God… Attack his Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior and take him out of the duel!" ordered Karādorein, feeling gleeful at the success he thought he was about to achieve.

In one swift movement, Dark Rainbow God brought its fist around and hit Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior, causing it to be destroyed and propel Craig back into the wall, the collision also causing smoke to be produced, clouding out Craig from the remainder of the duel.

"Craig!" yelled Hayley and Bastion, obviously concerned about their teammate.

Karādorein laughed manically, "I thought you Key holders were supposed to put up a challenge! That was too easy, now to retrieve the key…"

Karādorein held his hand out, expecting the key to come flying through the smoke and into his hand, although nothing occurred, "What? What's happening!"

The smoke cleared, and whilst Craig still lay in pain against the wall, he had managed to activate a trap card in time. Karādorein looked, and saw Nutrient Z. Craig slowly rose, still in pain from the vicious attack of Karādorein but looked happy, "Nutrient Z… If I'm about to be dealt more than 2000 points of Battle Damage… I can activate this card, and increase my Life Points by 4000 before the damage is dealt, so that took me up to 7100 before your attack collided."

"A lucky escape," said Karādorein, "You'll be lucky to last two more turns. I'll end my move there with a face-down. Just try and obliterate my creature!"

Craig drew his card, and looked down at the field he was currently facing, he had nothing, no monsters, no face-downs and Hayley still had her Colour Monster, as did Bastion, although neither of them came close to the power of Dark Rainbow God. Craig looked down at his hand; he had Magnet Conjunction, Magical Hats, Beta the Magnet Warrior and Nitro Synchron. Craig knew he couldn't do much with what he had, "I Summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode," (BMW 1700/1600)

Karādorein laughed hysterically yet again, "Of course, once your Colour Monsters are taken out of the equation, your Decks are absolutely worthless,"

"Your intimidation is hardly getting you anywhere," said Hayley, drawing her card, "I place one card face-down, and since Princess Luna has to remain in Attack Mode, I'll leave it at that," she hoped that it was enough.

"And now it's my turn," said Bastion, "I place my own face-down, and that ends my turn."

Karādorein laughed as he drew, again, "First of all, I equip my Dark Rainbow God with Axe of Despair, giving him another 1000 Attack Points. Key holders, I have a choice. Obviously, Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior is down, so I have another choice over which one to destroy next. I could choose Hayley's Princess Luna, or Bastion's Jaswinder. Since you defied my affection, I think I'll choose the Pink Whitewing – Princess Luna the Moon Alicorn!" (6500/6000 – 7500/6000)

Bastion showed a large look of concern, not wanting Hayley to lose in the duel, however Craig showed a blank look, not looking concerned over the situation, as Dark Rainbow God hammered its fist down again on Hayley's Whitewing, Hayley bracing herself for the impact, as again the Dark Rainbow God obliterated yet another Colour Creature.

"Come on, tell me I got one that time," hoped Karādorein, holding his fist out preparing to take a Key.

"Not happening," said Hayley, slowing walking out of the smoke that surrounded her area after the attack, in slight pain after the vicious attack of the God, "Much like my team-mate, I activated a Trap Card before your attack, Defense Draw, it reduces the attack dealt to me to 0, and I get to draw a card."

Hayley drew her card, as Bastion showed a sigh of relief, although Karādorein still laughed, "I have a creature with 7500 Attack Points, and you feel you've defeated me twice! Ha! Please, try and defeat Dark Rainbow God!"

"Although we may seem to have prevented him, he does have a point," thought Bastion, "I'm the only one left with a Colour Monster, and it has to stay in Attack Mode, so I'm next…"

Craig drew his card next, and looked disappointed at what he had drawn, "I guess all I can do is add Magnetic Synchron to my field in Defense Mode…"(MS 1000/1000)

"I can only add Whitewing – Lion of Courage to my side of the field in Defense Mode," said Hayley, looking reasonably concerned over Bastion's state. (W-LC 1900/1200)

Bastion drew his card, trying to remain calm and collected despite the state he was stuck in at this time, with his card most likely next, and looking through his hand, the reincarnated Prince couldn't find anything to help him, "I'll just play one card face-down and that will suffice," he said.

Karādorein simply laughed again, "Foolish. Why even bother making those moves. Dark Rainbow God, take out his Jaswinder the Storm!" he ordered, as Dark Rainbow God spun its Axe of Despair around in its hand and brought it down on Bastion's defenseless Blackwing. Karādorein looked hopeful that this one actually finally meant he had won, although when he held out his hand to retrieve Bastion's key, he received a blast from Bastion's side of the field instead, causing him to reel back a bit, looking back up, he saw Bastion's face-down card.

"Dimension Wall," said Bastion, "It means you take the Battle Damage from the battle instead of me, so I'm still here," he said with a smug grin, which infuriated Karādorein to no end.

Craig: 3600  
Hayley: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Karādorein: 0

"You can't hold out forever, so try and hold out from this… I activate Monster Reborn, bringing back your old friend Dragunity Knight – Gae Dearg, and now when I equip him with Dragon Treasure, he gets an extra 300 points…" added Karādorein. (DK-GD 2400/800) (DK-GD 2400/800 – 2700/1100)

"What good will that do, you can't attack with it now," questioned Craig.

"Let me show you, you insolent fool… I activate a face-down, Ring of Destruction, which will now destroy Gae Dearg and inflict us all damage equal to his Attack Points, and since I can't lose any more, it's only you that gets damaged!" replied Karādorein, as the ring strapped itself to the dragon's neck and imploded, hitting the three Key holders the hardest.

Craig: 900  
Hayley: 1300  
Bastion: 1300  
Karādorein: 0

"Weaklings… Only a few more turns now," muttered Karādorein, gleeful at his continued success.

Craig slowly recovered from the attack he took, and drew his card, "Brave Attack…" he muttered to himself, remembering yet again how he gained the card in the first place.

Xxxxx

_"Hey, little bro, whatcha need?" asked Craig._

"I just wanted to give you something; a thanks for helping me out all those years," replied James, laughing as he took out Brave Attack from his pocket.

"James, you love this card, are you sure?"

"Totally!"

Xxxxx

"This could come in handy…" thought Craig, before staring around at the remainder of his hand, "I can only play a monster in Defense Mode."

Hayley saw the slight positivity in Craig's draw, and so drew her card hoping for something similar, "Nothing that can save me again…" she thought, considering a move, "I'll repeat my partner's move, I play a card in Defense Mode, and that'll be all."

Bastion could sense that the two hadn't played anything that could assist them in the fight against Karādorein's beast, and he knew he had little in his Deck which could stand up to it, and drawing his card, he knew there was little he could do this turn, until he saw a card in his hand that might be able to do a little, '_Return from the Different Dimension, this would bring back our Colour Monsters for one turn, since Karādorein's Dark Rainbow God removed them from play,' _he thought, thinking a hopeful move through, _'However, none of them have anywhere near enough points to take his beast on… Can't hurt to play it down anyway…'_

"I play a monster in Defense Mode as well, and one card face-down," Bastion said.

"You see? You three are running out of cards that could possibly stand a chance against me, not that any cards you had stood a chance anyway," insulted Karādorein, "Since I'm so kind, I have a proposition."

"What kind proposition…" replied Hayley, cautious yet curious at the same time.

"You three all surrender unto me now, and I'll let you remain in this dimension and you can rule by me and consolidate my new empire with me," said Karādorein, "Here, let me show you…"

Karādorein waved his hand through the sky, and a vision appeared in the air to the three Key holders…

Xxxxx

_Karādorein was sitting on a large, crystallized throne, high up above the remainder of his Empire. Next to him sat Hayley, and next to her was Bastion, both wearing crowns and looked extremely happy at their position. Karādorein was holding Hayley's hand however. Nearby to them, walking around the area, Taniya was doing certain duties, and much like Hayley and Bastion, she too looked incredibly happy. Entering the room was Craig, wearing clothing like an army general, with James and Ryan beside him, walking towards and speaking to Karādorein…_

Xxxxx

Karādorein waved his hand again, and stared at the three Key holders, "With you three, my empire will be as powerful as it becomes, the three of you will get similar roles to that in the past, Bastion and Hayley will rule by my side as Princess Hayley and Prince Bastion, with Hayley as my bride and Taniya can return to assist you two in your duties, as you help the civilians in the empire… Craig, alongside your brothers Ryan and James, you will have a powerful warrior force to rule over. Each of your roles will be reincarnated, and by my side, we can rule the world together. I'll need your assistance, ruling the world won't be too easy. That is my final offer, surrender now and join me, or leave it and be utterly obliterated…" offered Karādorein.

"Never…" responded Bastion quickly.

"You'll be sucked into my Colour Crystal forever," replied Karādorein.

"Then so be it, we'll fight together to the end," said Hayley in return, as the two seriously looked at Karādorein, not even considering his offer.

Karādorein stared over at Craig, who had remained silent throughout this moment, "Well then, it's your move, and it's about time me and my beast are going to obliterate you. Co-operate, or be obliterated," he said, staring at Craig, "Or… are you perhaps considering my offer…"

Craig looked back at Karādorein in return, "I'd get my two brothers back with me?" he asked.

"You'd have them right back your side,"

Craig's hand began hovering over to the surrender button of his Duel Disk. Hayley and Bastion looked shocked at how Craig seriously looked to be accepting this offer.

"Yes… Join me by my side, and together, we'll rule together," muttered Karādorein.

Craig's hand swiftly changed from above the surrender button and he drew his card, "You're a gullible one," he said, laughing slightly. Hayley and Bastion let out a sigh of relief that Craig had only been joking about joining Karādorein, "As you would say yourself, fool. Even if you win, I'm going down knowing I just made you believe that."

"You'll never see your brothers again…" said Karādorein through gritted teeth, slightly angered that he had been tricked.

"You would only have betrayed me anyway," replied Craig, "I pass my turn."

Hayley drew her card, and looked at it, and looked down at Bastion's face-down. She had a hunch of what it was, and with her card, it could do a lot. Hayley looked up at Bastion, who didn't realize for a moment until he spotted her intense, searching look and she looked down at Bastion's face-down.

_'My face-down?'_ thought Bastion, _'I can't see it doing much, but it's worth a shot…'_

"Would you two stop looking at each other please, your love annoys me…" said Karādorein, eager to finish and get rid of Bastion for good so that he could be with Hayley.

"I activate my face-down," said Bastion, "Return from the Different Dimension! For half my Life Points, for one turn I can return all monsters that are removed from play for us, and since your Dark Rainbow God removed our Colour Monsters, let's welcome them back! Red Super-Kinetic Magnetic Warrior, Pink Whitewing – Princess Luna the Moon Alicorn and Yellow Blackwing – Jaswinder the Storm!" (RS-KMW 3000/3000) (PW-PLMA 3000/3000) (YB-JS 3000/2700)

"So you've brought back your three Colour Monsters, each as powerful as the other, my Dark Rainbow God could crush them all, although they'll disappear at the end of this turn, so there's not much chance for my creature to feast on a powerful foe."

Bastion stared back at Hayley, hoping she was able to do something to help them in return.

"Now, thanks to my partner, I'll activate a Spell card, Borrowing a Helping Hand! When each player on our side in a Tag Duel has under 1500 Life Points, I can look in one of my partner's hands and use one of their cards for this turn, and I choose Craig's hand!" continued Hayley.

Craig suddenly smiled, he knew what Hayley had planned and showed her his hand.

"What's he got? Let me guess, you'll activate something useless, like Graceful Charity, or maybe even Dian Keto the Cure Master," said Karādorein in a mocking tone.

Hayley pressed one of the cards in Craig's hand, indicating she wanted that one, Craig returned his hand to himself, "I don't have either of those cards Karādorein, but the card I do have is the card my younger brother gave to me before you took him, and it's the same one my partner just chose…" Craig said cheerfully, as Karādorein was taken aback by the sudden surge in confidence.

"Brave Attack!" said Hayley, placing the card down on her Duel Disk, "All monsters on our side of the field add their Attack Points together to give one super powerful attack."

"Karādorein…" Bastion began, "You don't need to be a genius to know 3000 x 3 is 9000, which is more than 7500…"

"It's over," added Craig, "Let's finish this…"

"I sacrifice both Craig's Magnet Warrior, and my Moon Alicorn, to give Bastion's Jaswinder an extra 6000 Attack Points!" said Hayley, as the two monsters were absorbed into Bastion's Jaswinder, who gained the wings of Hayley's Princess and the weapons of Craig's Magnet Warriors, "All together?" she questioned.

"All together," replied Craig.

"Yellow Blackwing – Jaswinder the Storm, attack!" said all three at once, as the Blackwing flew swiftly through the air and stuck it's sword directly in the middle of Dark Rainbow God's chest, who slowly disintegrated into the ground as Karādorein could only watch as he fell to his knees himself.

"And I believe you, the powerhouse that you are, just got destroyed," said Bastion, folding his arms smugly.

"I guess we're getting everyone back then!" said Hayley gleefully.

_'They're right…'_ thought Craig, _'But what did Ryan mean just after I defeated him last time…'_

Xxxxx

_"Since all of the Anarchists are now gone… Karādorein's able to…"_

Ryan's sentence was cut off by the Colour Crystal appearing and absorbing Ryan and Dark red into it and as Craig watched, he considered what Ryan was attempting to tell him before he was taken rather than show emotion over the matter.

Xxxxx

"I guess that was what he meant, Karādorein was able to bring out his beast with those keys, and we defeated him," said Craig to himself, no longer considering the situation and running over to Bastion and jumping on his back in celebration whilst he was in a passionate embrace with Hayley. The three laughed, proud of their victory over such a powerful force.

Karādorein then shocked them by throwing back his head and let out a maniacal laugh.

"What's so funny!" the trio asked at the same time.

"You, you actually thought you could defeat me! I may have lost but you don't see any colour returning to the world do you? Do you see your friends back? I don't, hahahahahahaha! Now, now I can use the Colour Crystal, because, you see, now that I had all the colours besides yours all I had to do was duel you, that way I could have a small bit of your colours and that is all I need!" and he laughed again, sounding like a mad man.

"All you need for what?" demanded Bastion, angry that they'd been used like this by this madman.

"To obtain ultimate power and rule the world!" he yelled and disappeared in a flash of dark colours and the Colour Crystal disappeared as well. Then the arena disappeared and the room began to shake.

"What's going on?" yelled Hayley.

"I don't know, just that it's something bad," said Bastion running over to help her up as she had fallen when the room had shook.

"Uh, Bastion, you're right," said Craig quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" the couple asked and Craig pointed outside. They turned and let out gasps of horror at what they were seeing.

Xxxxx

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	21. Battle in the Sky: Battle for the World

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 21: Battle in the Sky: Battle for the World**

Bastion, Hayley and Craig were staring a giant Karādorein and a giant Colour Crystal that hung in the sky. Karādorein was sapping the rest of the colour from the world, draining it, turning it into a colorless wasteland. Their keys glowed and protected them from being drained of their colours.

A terrible wind blew around them and Hayley was pushed away from the boys, it was so strong.

"Ah! Bastion help me!" she cried.

Bastion allowed the wind to push him forward and he grabbed her, "I've got you!"

"Don't let go!" she cried.

"I'll never let go!"

"Guys!" shouted Craig and he was pushed over to them they all held hands in a small circle.

"What can we do?" shouted Hayley over the sound of the wind.

"I have no clue!" said Craig.

"It had better be something good and fast, without colour, the world will crumble to dust!" cried Bastion and the teens looked at each other in fear. They had to do something.

"Princess! Prince! General!" said a voice and they turned to see Spike running towards them.

"SPIKE!" they all cried.

"Spike, what are you doing here? How did you get here?" asked Hayley, the three of them bending down onto the floor and keeping Spike from being blown away.

"I came to help and how I got here doesn't matter. What matters is, is that you need to stop Karādorein now. Listen to me you three. Think of the most important people, things, emotions, values to you, tap into your powers, combine the two and let yourselves grow and change, accept the power that is offered you. You will then gain the powers you need to defeat Karādorein."

They all listened well to him and they closed their eyes and focused, concentrating hard.

Craig thought of his family, his, dad, Ryan, James, Flo, all his friends, how much dueling meant to him, the love for his family. The love he felt for his brothers. He wanted both of them back; he wanted Ryan back, the real Ryan. He wanted James back. Craig began to glow red and he rose from the floor, letting go of Hayley's and Bastion's hands.

A red light swirled around him and then it was over. He opened his eyes and looked at himself; he was wearing a red helmet like a knights, red shoulder guards, red wrist and shin guards, a red chest-plate and by his side was a sword, its handle was silver and it had rubies the size of eggs embedded in it. His chest-plate had a glowing, silver symbol of a B over an H that was over a fist. "Craig, the Knight of Brotherhood!" he announced, twirling his sword around in an X pattern, leaving flames in his wake.

Hayley thought of her family, not just her mother and sister, but all the Amazons she lived with, she thought of her village, of the animals that lived there. She thought of her friends, how important they were to her, of Empress, her lioness, of dueling and how she loved it. She thought of Bastion and how much she loved him, he was her other half, her soul mate. She also thought of how much she cared about the world, how she would never let darkness take it.

She began to glow pink and like Craig, rose from the floor, letting go of Bastion's hand. A pink light swirled around her and then it faded. Hayley opened her eyes to see that she was dressed a pink, skintight bodysuit that had a knee-length skirt attached to it, pink shoulder guards, pink breast armor in the shape of flowers, ankle high feathery pink boots, pink feathery, elbow-length gloves, four large white Angel wings protruded from her back, she held a bow in one hand and had a pink quiver full of arrows on her back. On her face was a pink mask that covered her eyes. She also wore a crown and her special flower and wisteria mark remained the same and on her bodysuit, right in the middle was a glowing, white flower symbol. "Hayley, the Princess of Light," she cried, letting loose an arrow and it left a trail of light behind it.

Bastion thought of how much his life had changed since his first year at Duel Academy. He'd done and learnt so much, he'd always been alone before Duel Academy; now, now he had friends, real friends, Taniya, Chazz, Craig, Alexis, Syrus, Atticus, Hasselberry, Blair, Aster, Sartorious, Sarina, Chumley, Flo, Jasmine, Mindy, Zelda, Tamera, Tiffany, Spike, Zane…Hayley. Hayley had come into his life and had turned it upside down and he liked it. He owed a lot to his friends; he wouldn't be who he was without them.

He began to glow a bright yellow and rose from the floor, yellow light washing over him and when he opened his eyes he saw that his attire was similar to Craig's. His yellow shoulder guards were slimmer and he had no shin guards, instead, he had thick boots, no wrist guards but he had a yellow chest-plate that was lighter than Craig's, yellow arm guards, a yellow cape flowed from his shoulders, and there was a yellow band around his head. On his chest-armor there was a glowing green eternity symbol. "Bastion, the Prince of Friendship," and thrust the daggers that were hidden in his loose pants to the sides, letting off psychic energy as they landed.

"We are the Trio of Hope!" they declared and though the wind howled and lightning flashed they stood firm.

"Let's get him!" cried Craig and jumped up onto a cloud provided by Spike. Hayley flapped her wings and Bastion used his powers to levitate and fly after them.

"Karādorein!" shouted Bastion and the giant, color-crazed Karādorein turned and looked at them and then let out a laugh.

"So, you've transformed? But it's not enough! With all the colour in the world at my disposal, nothing can defeat me! Not even you!" he boomed and laughed again as he backhanded them.

"AAHHH!"

"WOAH!"

"GAH!"

They managed to stop and right themselves.

"How do we defeat him?" asked Craig.

"By working together!" answered Bastion, realizing the answer before he could even think about it.

Craig drew his sword, Hayley readied her arrow and Bastion sent energy to his daggers, "NOW!" cried Craig and they let loose their attacks at the same time.

"Fire Sword!"

"Arrow of Light!"

"Psychic Daggers!"

They hit Karādorein, creating a lot of smoke but when it cleared they gasped, Karādorein didn't have a scratch on him!

He laughed and sent a bolt of energy towards them, causing them to scatter. They let loose another attack on him at the same time but once again it had no effect. It continued like this for a while, dodging and attacking and they eventually managed to get together again.

"I thought we were working together!" exclaimed Craig, panting heavily.

"We are!" shouted Bastion and it was Hayley who figured out the problem, "Guys! We've be attacking together but not together, we need to form attack combinations, using our attacks as one instead of three," she said.

Bastion clapped his hand to his forehead, "Of course, we are idiots."

"Better late than never," said Craig and they readied their next attack, Bastion threw his daggers to Hayley and they landed on her Bow alongside her arrow and Craig charged up his sword with fire. Hayley let loose her arrow and Bastion's daggers, Craig swiped his sword and let a tremendous amount of fire loose, the attacks combined and they all called out,

"Psychic Light Fire Blast!" It was a direct hit and they heard a sound that was practically music to their ears, Karādorein's cry of pain.

"YES!" they cried and continued to attack with Psychic Light, Bright Fire, Fire Energy and Bastion shielded them with his Psychic Shield.

"This has gone on long enough!" cried Karādorein and reached up and grasped the crystal in his hand. When they attacked again they got a surprise, he was no longer hurt and they hadn't scratched him!

"What?" asked Craig.

Bastion's eyes widened in realization, "It's the Color Crystal! He's using it for extra power, protection and healing. With it, he's unbeatable!"

"RIGHT YOU ARE BASTION. NOTHING AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME NOW!" laughed Karādorein.

Hayley stared at him and then without warning, flew towards him, readying her bow and arrow.

"HAYLEY!" cried Craig.

"HAYLEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" cried Bastion.

Karādorein laughed and grabbed her with his free hand and squeezed her, making her scream from pain! He batted Bastion back when he charged towards them. Then he dropped her and she fell downwards, towards the ocean.

"HAYLEY!" screamed Bastion and dove down to save her only to be stopped by a huge psychic blow from Karādorein.

Hayley hit the ocean and sank like a stone. Then she opened her eyes and looked around herself, the ocean was dark and colorless, and all around her sea creatures were slowly crumbling to dust, for without colour…

Surrounded by water, she didn't know if she was crying or not but something beneath her began to shine with blue light. Curious, she swam down towards it. What was it? It came into view and Hayley gasped, for it was a crystallized droplet of water and she could sense that it was magical. She picked it up and blue light shone from the crystal…

"Hayley!" yelled the boys, Bastion was locked in a mental battle with super-sized Karādorein and Craig was clutched in his right hand.

"You should worry more about yourselves!" boomed Karādorein and had another evil laughing spree when a patch of water began to glow blue. "What's this?" he asked and then a jet of water spouted up and then went back down, revealing Hayley with something in her hands.

"Hayley!" cried the boys in delight. She smiled at them and then faced Karādorein, placing the light in her hands on her bow, transforming it into an arrow. She aimed and let it go and it missed Karādorein completely.

"Haha! You missed me!" he said.

"I wasn't aiming for you," said Hayley with a look of triumph in her eyes.

"What!" There was a cracking noise and everyone looked to Karādorein's hand to see the large Colour Crystal cracking… "Oh no," said Karādorein. It then exploded into thousands of pieces which then sped towards Hayley whose hands glowed and fused them back together into a hand sized Crystal. All of this distracted Karādorein and that meant that Bastion was able to break away from him and Craig wriggled out from his grasp and they sped towards Hayley.

"Hayley!" shouted Craig, halting in front of her.

"Hayley, Starsong, are you alright!" shouted a frantic Bastion.

She hugged him and smiled, "I'm fine Bastion, now boys; I have a plan to take down big and ugly over there."

"Tell us what to do," said Bastion and Craig nodded.

"Craig, go to the left of me and Bastion, you to the right, send me your energy. I'll use the Crystal and then watch what happens," said Hayley and the boys nodded. They did what she said and waves of red and yellow energy were sent to her and then Hayley focused on the Crystal in her hand. She began to glow as did the crystal. Then all the Colour Monsters appeared and red, yellow, pink, green, purple, blue, black, orange, white, dark red, dark yellow, dark pink, dark green, dark purple, dark blue, dark black and dark oranges streaked across the sky and all of them, except for red, yellow and pink had a human figure in them. They were transported to Duel Academy.

Hayley then raised the Colour Crystal above her head and smiled, "Time to show Karādorein what the true Princess of Colours can do," she said. The Crystal glowed again, this time with all the colours of the rainbow. Rainbow Energy rose out of it and it swirled and twirled and sparkled.

"NOW!" shouted all three heroes and it shot towards Karādorein with the Colour Monsters adding their own strength to the attack.

Karādorein who'd been stunned by the force of Bastion's psychic blow when their mental battle had been broken, could only watch in horror as the rainbow and the attacks shot towards him, engulfing him, not one bit of him was uncovered. He let out a horrible scream and then everything went quiet from inside the rainbow. It died down and Karādorein was nowhere to be seen.

The trio turned to the Colour Monsters who smiled at them, a 'Thank you' echoed in their minds and then there was a flash of colour and the trio watched as colour returned to the world and it looked so beautiful, like the world has just been made. Then there was another flash of light, this time it was white and the trio disappeared and so did the Colour Monsters.

In Karadorein's palace there was a flash of purple black light and Crowler and Sheppard not only got their souls back but they were also transported back to Duel Academy as was Spike and Karādorein's palace disappeared forever.

All the Dark Colour holders and Colour holders were waking up and each found their Colour Card disappearing right in front of their eyes. All traces of brainwashing was gone from Ryan and he was back to how he used to be. "Was it all just a dream?" asked Taniya as she watched her card disappear and then noticed that while all the other colour holders, good and bad were there, Hayley, Bastion and Craig weren't. "Where are they?" she asked and received no answer.

**Xxxxx**

**Please Review**


	22. The Magic haas Ended

**Dawn of a New Year**

**AnotherIdentity and I don't own anything except our OC's and made up cards.**

**Chapter 22: The Magic has Ended**

On the beach of Duel Academy three figures lay, all unconscious with the gentle waves lapping at their feet. They were Bastion, Hayley and Craig. Bastion slowly came to and slowly sat up and beside him Hayley and Craig stirred.

"Where are we?" asked Hayley sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"We're home Starsong," said Bastion and her eyes shot open as she looked around the beach and twisted around to see Duel Academy behind her in the distance.

"Did we do it? Did we save the day?" asked Craig, still a bit out of it.

"Yes you did," said a voice and they all looked to the right to see Spike running towards them with a big smile on his face.

"Spike!" cried Hayley and held out her arms, which he ran into.

"Princess," he said.

"So, it's all over, Karādorein's gone for good?" asked Craig.

"Colour has been restored to the world, everyone is back, those who were brainwashed are back to normal, including your brother Ryan but although Karādorein is gone, he's not gone for good, terribly weakened and not in this dimension anymore, he'll come back but for now you can rest," said Spike.

"That's good enough for me," said Hayley.

"So Ryan's back to normal? WOOHOO!" cheered Craig.

"Taniya is back too!" realized Hayley and hugged Spike even tighter.

Bastion wished that he could cheer with them, he was happy but just the fact that Karādorein was not gone for good made him realize that until he was truly gone, Hayley would always be in danger. He made a silent promise to protect her at any cost if and when Karādorein came back.

"Bastion, are you ok?" asked Hayley in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, just a bit uneasy that Karādorein is still out there," he said.

"I know but he's gone for now so let's enjoy life until then," she said.

"Very well, come on, let's go back and let the others know we're safe," said Bastion and the trio plus Spike went back to Duel Academy.

"By the way, your powers will be much stronger now and more accessible, especially for you Prince Bastion," said Spike.

"That's good to know, I'm eager to learn how to use them," he replied.

Craig grinned; it was cool to have powers and to have saved the world, apart from Yugi and his friends ten years ago, how many people had done that?

Xxxxx

Sheppard and Crowler were glad to be back and everyone was glad to have them back but everyone was worried about Craig, Bastion and Hayley, were they ok?

"Hey, there they are!" yelled Atticus, pointing down the beach path and everyone saw the trio and dragon walking up to them. They let out a cheer which made the trio look up and smile. Taniya, Ryan and James began to run towards them and so did the other Key Keepers, even Chazz.

Hayley soon found herself in a fierce embrace from her sister and Craig was getting strangled by both of his brothers and boy was he glad to have them back. Then Flo joined in and he wasn't sure if he would last much longer. Bastion was being hugged by the rest of the group and then when Taniya let go of Hayley she pushed everyone else away and proceeded to hug him to death.

"Agh, Taniya, choking, not breathing," he said, gasping for air.

Sheppard got everyone calmed down and into the Main Hall where he made an announcement, "We are all gathered here today to say thank you to Craig Thresher, Hayley Dupree and Bastion Misawa for finally defeating Karādorein and giving the world back its colour. We also say thank you to Chazz Princeton, Alexis Rhodes, Flo Smith, Tyranno Hasselberry and Taniya Dupree for helping. Taniya, thank you for taking care of the school in our absence," he said. The school gave a big cheer and Taniya nodded thank you.

There was a party that lasted until the wee hours of the morning and that's when the police showed up to arrest the Dark Key holders. Unfortunately Etain had gone back to the Amazoness Village. Larke and Jaden were minors and claimed to be controlled. Ryan admitted to being mind controlled ever since the Dueling Summer camp several years ago, when he'd beaten Karādorein, so he wasn't in too much trouble and the others,, Blaze and them had left while the party was going on but the police had their descriptions so it was likely they would be caught sooner or later.

The rest of the term passed in a blur of exams, dueling and reconnecting with everyone. Ryan had been offered a job as Taniya's assistant next year and no one was associating with Jaden at all even though he acted as though he'd done nothing wrong, but as Hayley said, Jaden was the King of Idiots. Jaden was still crushing on Larke as well, some things never changed. Bastion had been invited to the Amazon village by Taniya and Hayley and he was sincerely looking forward to it.

The last day came and everyone was busy packing to go home, well, almost everyone. Craig, Taniya, Bastion and Hayley were lying outside on the grass enjoying the sunshine and having the breeze on their faces.

"Man, what a year," muttered Craig.

"Yeah," agreed Hayley.

"It's certainly been exciting," said Bastion.

"It's never boring at Duel Academy," said Taniya.

"Hey, Taniya, you owe me a rematch from last year," said Bastion as the thought struck him.

"You know, you're right," she said and they got up.

"Hey Hayley, you and I never dueled this year, how about we duel now?" asked Craig.

"I'd love to Craig," she said.

"Let's make it interesting, a tag duel, Bastion and Hayley against Craig and I," said Taniya.

Everyone agreed and activated their Duel Disks.

"Let's Duel!"

"Let the Wind Blow!"

"Let's Roll!"

"Let the Magic Begin!"

And the duel began and so did a new chapter in their lives, but that's another story.

The End…for now.


End file.
